


Elua's Companions

by Jon_of_Narva



Series: Elua's Nightmare [6]
Category: Kushiel's Legacy - Jacqueline Carey
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2018-04-02 13:18:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 65
Words: 171,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4061455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jon_of_Narva/pseuds/Jon_of_Narva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“All sects deserve reverence for one reason or another. By thus acting a man exalts how own sect and at the same time does service to the sects of other people.”<br/>- Ashoka</p><p> </p><p>This is a continuation of what I started with Elua’s Nightmare, which I now have come to see as a trilogy, oddly enough. Since Nightmare ballooned into nearly 200,000 words, what the hell, right?<br/>.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Susan & Billyidolrules](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Susan+%26+Billyidolrules).



Elua’s Companions

 

This is a continuation of what I started with Elua’s Nightmare, which I now have come to see as a trilogy, oddly enough. Since El's Nightmare ballooned into nearly 200,000 words, what the hell, right?

Yes, its a big story, this one will be a tale that stretches over years.

 

 

 

  **Elua’s Companions**

 

“All sects deserve reverence for one reason or another. By thus acting a man exalts how own sect and at the same time does service to the sects of other people.”  
\- Ashoka

 

 

**Part One - Fear and loathing in Bhodistan**

  **1**

 

 

The day after we were wed, Bao and I were awoken by the sounds of people shouting and running about as if a war had broken out. As marriages go, it was not the most auspicious way to begin.

Ah, but what a morning it had been until that moment! Dozing, waking to love each other again, one or the other of us petting each other in our sleep as we patiently waited for the other to resume our personal celebration. Against all odds and the efforts of half the world, we were truly together, and not simply in the way our shared diadh-anam drew us. Husband and Wife… I was a _wife_ now! The very concept was two parts delight and one part amazement, even after all the preparations. The fear was gone now, or reduced to a light spicing in the rest of the mix, fading more and more every time Bao touched me… and the touches were constant that night.

Morning was much closer to midday than to dawn when the chaos began, thank the Gods. Bao was sleeping lightly and I was half-awake, just hungry enough to wonder if we should rouse ourselves enough to call for something. Certainly, there was nobody in the Palace who was expecting much from us today, our preparations to leave were not to begin until the morrow. I do not think that anyone would have been upset if we had delayed.

These were my thoughts as I lay halfway across Bao’s body, preferring the smooth hardness of his chest to the softest silk pillows, as the first shouts reached my ears. I was not concerned at first. Aye, we were in a palace, but the palace was in the middle of a city, and people cary on in all sorts of boisterous ways in a City. It was a moment before the tenor of the shouts registered in my mind; panic, and strident pleas for guidance. It was the kind of shouting I had not heard since Kurugiri.

Just as I was coming fully awake, I found myself sitting on the edge of the bed so suddenly that a heartbeat went by before I understood how I had come to be there. Bao had awaken ready for battle, and had gathered me up and set me down in a seated position in the blink of an eye. The speed and the care with which he had done it was unique to him. I had only begun to smile at him when a waterfall-sound passed over the building. Bao was halfway to the balcony with his staff in hand, his other hand flashed to me in a gesture meant to make me stay where I was. Feeling like a Mouse in its burrow while Hawks circle overhead, I needed no such encouragement.

Bao took one look, upwards, and staggered back into the doorway. “Its a…” He checked his words, his head craning to see another corner of the sky. Then he turned his wide-eyed gaze to me. “... a pair, of Dragons!”

That was what he said, and not with fear or awe. What I heard in his voice was more akin to;  _Damn, wouldn’t you just_ **know** _it_?

 

I leapt from the bed ran to see. Dragons, _plural_ , this was something I had to see for myself. Bao would have seen any interruption of our time together on this day as an inconvenience, and this was the most absolute proof I could have imagined. I _had_ to see, and not because I was hoping to catch a glimpse of our friend from Jade Mountain. There was also the child-like glee that came over me when something wondrous showed itself, impossible to resist as bright light is for flying insects… or the smell of raw meat for a Bear, perhaps.

My bad-boy Bao smiled at me with a twinkle in his eyes as I dashed past him. I misunderstood, and forgot it entirely until many years later, when a print was shown to me that commemorated this event. Part of the palace was shown, and in the lower left-hand corner was a balcony on which stood a pair of disheveled newly-weds, both of whom were completely naked. I have long since forgiven myself for that lapse, as should anyone else who experienced that day.

These were no Dragons as we understood them, no pearlescent coils or other-worldly presence. These were unmistakably predatory beasts with a look that did not conform to Eastern nor Western ideas about how a Dragon should look. They had wings, to start with, and arms as well as legs. The one I saw first was elegant, and covered with Golden scales. I have thought of the Ranni Amrita as living Gold, but here was a creature that looked to be the very thing. Delicate yet moving those wings with real power, it seemed to be smiling, and I swear it winked at me as it passed through my field of vision half a league away.

The other one passed over my head from behind, hidden until the last moment by the roof of the building. The waterfall sound drew my gaze upwards just in time to see the sun and sky blotted out by by something that looked like a granite cliff. It was the second Dragon, easily twice the size of the other. I think I screamed the name of my goddess, the great Bear, and never wished for her living presence so hard in my life. There was a clatter as I looked up at the monster, Bao dropping his staff to reach for me-

**PEACE TO YOU ALL.**

This was not a vocalization as I understand them. Nor was it a brush with the will of the Gods, this was similar to what I felt in the presence of the Dragon of Jade Mountain… yet something else as well. An appeal to our better nature was being broadcast to us, as if a vast flurry of messages drawn on the finest parchment had been distributed to us all in an instant. Not a command, but an invitation to us all to see reason.

It was coming from the huge stone-colored one.

Bao had his arms around me, ready to haul me back inside. He paused now, awed and silenced by that message, as was everyone else in the city.

The Dragon was quick to take advantage of this new quiet. He reared up and hovered over the city, the wind of his wings stirring my hair from a league away. “WE ARE HERE TO PRAISE THE BRILLIANCE OF THE RANNI AMRITA, IN HONOR OF HER DECISION TO RELEASE FROM BONDAGE THOSE FORMERLY KNOWN AS UNTOUCHABLES. WE WILL REQUET PERMISSION TO ENTER YOUR REALM AT THE GATE TO THIS CITY, THAT WE MAY PAY YOU PROPER HOMAGE."

The voice was a carefully modulated storm of sounds that reached our ears, as words in the language of Bhaktipur. While loud enough to carry from one end of the city to the other, it was clear to me that the Dragon could have been much louder, had he wished to be.

 _He_ , yes, there was something very male about the Dragon that spoke, and as he flew off towards the main gates, I saw the Ranni standing on a balcony at the same level ours , in a different wing of the Palace. She saw me as well, and flashed me a mudra that was a request for guidance, a gesture she normally reserved for the temple when before the icons of the Gods. She directed it at me, and my arms started to move in a helpless shrug. Wonder had won out over fear again, but all I had to guide me at times like this was my _diadh-anam_ , which was giving me no guidance at all! One glance at Bao told me his was the same, carefully neutral and shining as if nothing at all was amiss.  
Nothing…

I gave the Ranni a swift, firm nod as Bao urged me back inside.

 

“Something miraculous is happening that has nothing to do with us?” Bao sounded skeptical as we dressed, throwing on the simplest things we had and not bothering with undergarments. for him that meant trousers that ended where they hugged his knees and a simple vest of gold cloth with red brocade. For me, a robe meant for private chambers that was so elaborate that it would serve for public wear, especially where everyone had Dragons to gawk at. Bao had his boots on before I was done lacing my sandals, he helped me finish and pulled me up to my feet. “Could we really be so lucky?”

With no time to do anything else, I flipped my hair into a Lover’s Haste knot and followed him out of the room with one hand on the staff slung over his back. “We are the only two people in all of Bhaktipur that have ever seen a Dragon before, isn’t that-“ I cut myself off and looked down at my robe. People would be looking at us, for advice. “We need to hurry to catch up with the Rani!”

“Oh, not so much as you think.” The rich voice of Lady Amrita reached our ears from around the corner of the hallway, followed by the woman herself. She had sounded calm, and faintly amused, and I do believe she was the only person in the city capable of sounding that way. She rounded the corner with Hasan Dar and her son Ravindra at he side. The Rani appeared composed, but I noticed the tension in her hands as she clung to a mudra of serenity.

Ravindra took two darting steps towards us, very excited as he took our hands and urged us towards the grand staircase. “Are they really Dragons? Are they like the one you knew?”

Considering the momentous nature of the situation, we were all glad that his child-like impetuosity had taken us straight to the point. Ravindra was practically beside himself, I had never seen him look so young.

“Yes, Prince, I know of nothing else they can be.” I answered him while glancing at the Rani. “And no, not like any we have seen. They appear as…as different as…”

Bao finished for me; “They are as different from the Dragon we knew as Snow Leopards are from a Giant Boa-Constrictor.”

The young prince nodded judiciously and put his mind to that comparison, and hit upon something that I don’t think Bao had intended. “Snakes are patient, far more so than big cats. We should not keep the waiting.”

The only delay anyone made in approaching the Main gate was the Ranni’s detour to fetch the two of us. Our feet never stopped moving, none of us even paused as we passed out of the palace and down the paved streets. As her palanquin was not ready the moment she needed it, so the Ranni herself walked, _walked_  through her city before her people. She set the pace at a walk so swift that had she gone any faster we would have been running, and running at all would have done no good for the peace of mind of her people. The streets were full of folk who did not block our progress in any way, we are all headed to the same place.

  
At the gate, we saw soldiers who were preparing to open the gates. Hasan Dar dashed ahead of us, bellowing at them, “No! You dare not!” And then he slowed and looked back at the Rani. “ _Do_  they?”

To my relief, Ranni Amrita did not look back at us for advice, but she did think for a moment as her hands ran through a series of mudras for concentration. “No, not yet. I would prefer to confront these strangers at eye-level, to begin with.”

At the top of the wall, an old soldier named Venkarth knelt briefly before making his report; “If they are hostile, they are being very well-mannered about it. See there, they landed one at a time, the female first, avoiding the freshly planted fields that they might stand together on the pasture.”

“The female?”

“Yes, Prince, the Gold one… that is my _opinion_ , sire.”

Venkarth was probably right, he’s had more time to observe the pair, and under calmer conditions than the rest of us had. Bao and I squeezed into a gap in the parapets to see for ourselves. I flinched, the walls of Bhaktipur are tall and formidable, and yet I found myself looking _upwards_ at a slight angle to see the head of the Gray Dragon. The both of them crouched like Lions, or hunting Dogs, before us. Bellies to the ground and propped on their elbows. They were very close together, as they must be, to avoid the planted rows to either side of them. Their tightly folded wings rubbed together and their tails were twined intimately. The grassy lane was directly opposite the gatehouse atop with we stood. and across the main highway. Even so, their size made them seem terribly near, and I could all see that Venkarth was definitely right, there was something feminine about the Gold dragon. Her delicately framed eyes were dark, and her head was held low until she saw us peeking between gaps in the stonework. Her head came up angled skyward, and a trill sounded, trumpet-like if one can imagine a trumpet the size of a tree. Once the musical note had played out her serpentine neck assumed an s-shape and her head was leveled with ours, eyes looking directly at us. I tried to read her expression, and quickly became confused. Was that avarice, adoration, or something else?

“Thank you for coming to see us, kind Rani.” The male spoke directly to Amrita with a voice that was far less earth-shaking than what he had used over the city, and just as resonant. “I am Merrin, and this is my mate, Sushulana. May we have your permission to be here?”

  
The Gold Dragon smiled and bowed her head, and said nothing. She had not spoken at all since appearing, and I thought little of it at the time. In so much of the world, women are subservient to men. A multitude of people had gathered on the wall and on the buildings that allowed them to see over the wall, and I think they took it to be a hint of normalcy in our strange guests. What made the greatest impression on me at this time was how they had avoided the planted rows surrounding them. These Dragons had been careful to avoid ruining the work of humble farmers, even at a time when few people would have made any note of it. 

In answer to Merrin, the Rani inclined her head and showed a bemused smile. She pitched her voice to carry, rather than shout. “Granted, freely. I wish to extend our hospitality to you, however… I find myself at a lose as to how to do so for magnificent creatures such as yourselves. There seems to be a problem of scale. How would it be possible for us to accommodate you?”

“Allow us to solve the problem.” Merrin and Sushulana exchanged glances. “It is what we do, after all.” They began to shrink is size before our eyes. Merrin kept his eyes on Sushulana as they grew smaller, and helped her shrug off a satchel colored as her scales during the process. The long strap and streamlined container had been small enough to attract little notice while the Dragons were huge, by the time they were down to Human size, it was the size of a trunk.

…and then suddenly, they were human in _shape_ , as well as size.

This was the most astonishing thing I had seen in a very eventful year. Dragons able to change is size and shape of their own volition, and appear human, this was something that even our shared legends had not prepared us for. Alban, Ch’in, Bhaktpur, none of those told of such creatures in this day and age. What made this so amazing, this display of theirs, was that they could have used this power to simply walk into the city any time they had wished… and they had given that knowledge away to us. I had to put one hand on Bao’s shoulder to steady myself. My new husband was as rock-solid as ever, only the look on his face revealed that his thoughts were similar to mine. He whispered to me; “Are they …. Gods?”

I had no answer to that, so I turned to Amrita. She was as close to aw-struck as I would ever see her. Hasan Dar was having a hushed conversation with her, and as I watched his head came up and he said more loudly; “Truly?”

The Rani answered as forthrightly as ever. “I think it would be the worst sort of blasphemy to send soldiers out there, send no one at all. I must be first at the gate…”  I looked back at the strange creatures, and only then did I consciously realized that they had both assumed human form completely naked. Logical, I suppose, and it balanced the karmic scales considering how Bao and I had greeted the first sight of them on the porch. It also added just one more bit of weirdness to a very weird morning. The crescent-shaped trunk was already open and the female, Sushulana, beat Merrin to the contents and firmly pushed a bundle into his hands. Was she serving him before herself? No so much, I thought, Merrin’s posture suggested he was not as comfortable being bare before a multitude of strangers as she was. Transformed, she was still half his mass, and more alluring than she had been as a Dragon. Dark-skinned with hair the same color as ripe wheat with mahogany streaks, Sushulana was very eye-catching. Merrin was simply imposing, and swiftly dressed himself in trousers and jacket of such severely plain lines that they fit no cultural norm that I had seen… and that is no small thing. Black trimmed with white, and no adornments that I could see from this distance. As soon as he was done, Merrin turned to help his woman, and I revived myself enough to take action. All I had to do was touch the Rani’s arm, and Amrita immediately began to move towards the stairs. “Open the gates, send two unarmed men to see to their baggage. Send my liter away, we will want to walk and talk… make the palace ready for a Royal reception!”

The words came out in a rush as she lead us all down the stairs and to the gate as it slowly cranked open. The changed Dragons were still standing across the street from us. Her arm was around his waist, and his was draped over her shoulders. They started walking towards us as soon as the Ranni stepped through the stone archway. This was when I was able to see clearly what Sushulana was wearing.

Her skirt had a ruffle that accentuated the flare of her hips before falling straight to her ankles. Above that was a form-fitting top that allowed some cleavage showing and would have left her arms and shoulders bare if not for a half-cape that complimented the outfit well. The three pieces were orange, yellow and red that accentuated her natural colors, she was a brilliant contrast to Merrin’s plain severity. She also reminded me of something that I could not place yet. The cape came complete with a hood, which she flipped up over her hair. The upper half of her face was thus shielded from the bright sunlight.

Sushulana’s brilliant smile and casual grace also contrasted with Merrin’s calm dignity. Even when his disposition was sunny there was a gravity about him, a presence that was not lessened by the transformation to human size and shape. He wore no adornments of any kind. He needed none, for here was a true nobleman, or perhaps grander than that, even among Dragon-kind. He nodded to the Ranni as they approached, waiting upon her next words, but that was the moment Sushulana chose to remove any doubts that she was able to speak. She softly broke into a brief little song.  
“Love and life,  
all around,  
come my love and see what I have found.”

Her earlier trumpeting in Dragon shape had followed the same rhythm.  She danced up to us and curtsied while speaking. “The Rani Amrita, I presume, and General Hasan Dar.” Calling him General was rather overstating his rank, and a compliment at the same time, as soldiers understood such things. “Ah, and Prince Ravindra, how are…” Sushulana’s eyes strayed to mine, and Bao, and I felt a chill such as I had no felt since we had locked away the Kamadeva’s Black Diamond. Her smile did not falter, but I saw a great tiredness in her, a weariness and sorrow that called out to me for relief. My diadh-anam, timely as ever, flared warmly to dispel the chill as she finished; “… _you_.”

Ravindra took the opportunity to introduce us. “Yes, may I present Master Shuintan Bao, and his wife Moirin mac Fianche. Heroes and honored guests of… our… realm.” He had noticed Sushulana staring at us, and how Merrin had leveled a measuring look at us as well. “Perhaps you have heard of them?”

"Indeed we have."

“How wonderful.” Bao spoke to me under his breath in the scholar’s tongue of Ch’in. “Our lives have just become more complicated, again.”

“Perhaps so.” Sushulana answered in the same language, and not quietly. “But we are not your enemies.” She smiled and winked at us. “Quite the _other_ thing, in fact, which I suppose is what has lead us to our present difficulty.” She said no more on the matter, and was given no chance to do so by Merrin.

“Rani Amrita, as I was saying, we are most impressed and wish to do you honors. We have brought little of the material sort, as it seems your coffers are rather full at the moment. And again, apologies for the lack of warning, but for reasons we would speak of in private, our time is dreadfully short.”

“Not so short that we would not be able to spare some hours for a tour of this fine city, surely?” Sushulana asked in her musical tones. “This lovely Rani is sure to be wondering what we mean by doing ‘honors’, and how better than going among her people to do what we can for them?” The Lady Amrita smiled in return, one does not deny courtesy to Dragons, no matter how unexpected, yet it was Merrin who appeared to be ready to raise objections. “Considering the boon we would ask, is it really such a bother, dearest? A late lunch for them, a little work for us, and then we get down to business, yes?”

Merrin let his arms drop, and shrugged in reply. Once his formidable will had begun to bend, there was little that the rest of us could do to avoid being caught up in Sushulana’s whirlwind. No problem stood in her way for long, no complication could not be simplified on the spot. The first thing was footwear, sandals are not likely to protect one’s feet in the tumbledown quarter where the Untouchables still dwelt in some numbers. From her trunk, Sushulana procured fur-lined boots for the Rani and I which she insisted on fitting to our feet herself. Miraculously, they were perfect fits despite the fact that they had looked anything _but_ , at first glance.

People turned out in droves to catch a glimpse of our party, and they received more than they had bargained for, I dare say. Sushulana darted about, making a game of letting the Untouchables touch her and touching them back, but the game soon turned to something very different. Those she touched gasped and shuddered as if they had been dunked in hot water, and staggered about for a moment afterwards. I gasped myself when I saw what was happening. Sushulana’s touch left them, and their clothes, cleansed of all the filth that had been clinging to them for years. In many cases, the rags they wore changed colors, and that was not all. Younger women’s nipples poked at their shirts, and some young men turned away blushing furiously, hands over their livened phallus and grinning sheepishly.

“No, no, its nothing like that.” She said to me as I moved in closer to try to understand what was happening. “Its just a little cleaning spell, nothing more. But the tingle is very… _refreshing_ , on the skin. Would you like to try it?”

“No! But-“ my answer had to be left for later on, a child of about 7 winters dashed in and slapped Sushulana’s thigh and sprinted away, and the little woman shrieked and chased after the impudent rascal with very youthful abandon. It was delightful and disturbing at the same time, to watch her playing this magical game of tag. Sushulana invariably won by outsmarting her opponents and making them sparkling-clean.

“Take care of yourselves now, you go right back to being dirty as soon as you get careless!”

I turned back to Bao for some guidance here, this was all going too quickly and strangely. He was making his way towards me, with a thoughtful look on his face, and nodded back towards the rest of the party. Merrin was walking along in his stately way, between the Rani and Hasan Dar, and having such a deep conversation that all three barely paid Sushulana any heed. “He’s something of an engineer, that one. He’s telling them how to improve sanitation, how to make this the healthiest city on the continent. Merrin certainly knows what he is talking about, I’ve seen enough cities to know…. but,” Bao looked around us, “one thing is clear, all of this will have to go.”

“Go?” A heartbeat later I knew what he was talking about, and I did not like it. “The neighborhood? Gods Bao, everyone that can leave already has! What are the rest going to do when all of this is plowed up and covered over, make boats and live on the river?” I sent a sharp look Merrin’s way. He was just coming within earshot, but I did not think he could hear my words until he answered;

“Why not? A good raft can last for years, and this river is underutilized. If the city is truly so short of space, these people can build a village of their own in some spur of this valley, I saw several on the way here. Or, any number of other solutions, as the people and rulers of this land see fit. Lady Moirin, this dreary place is not just a threat to the continued health of the city as a whole, it is a psychological anchor that holds these people in place. Some of them may never rise above it, for generations, they won’t _believe_ they can. Please, allow them to let it all go.”

“ _By kicking them out_?” I was angry, more than I should have been. I had been wracking my mind for ways to get the last of the people out of this place, and here it was. There would be a place for them, the Rani would ensure that before anything else happened, but even so the thoughtful look that she had while listening to Merrin bothered me. _Merrin_ bothered me. Fantastic beings though they may be, what right did they have to come here and…. and ...

…what _were_  they trying to do?

I wrongly attempted to keep track of both Dragons, and so was only able to gain basic ideas about them before we reached the Palace. Our next stop was the riverfront area that shared space with temples and commerce. Children followed Sushulana as if they were baby Ducks, and anxious parents followed them and blocked my view of Sushulana as she darted about like a sparrow. She seemed to be trying to talk to everyone, unmindful of all the hands reaching out to touch her. She worked introductions into the conversations, for the benefit of the ‘touched’. I could no more keep up with her than the pair of Guards assigned to her could, so Bao and I fell back and let the little Dragon have her way. Merrin was standing very still at the edge of a retaining wall, he seemed lost in this thoughts for a very long moment, until Ravindra touched his sleeve. “Is something wrong? What would you suggest for us here?”

“Hm?” Merrin shook his head and then smiled down at the Prince. “Oh, I was contemplating the genius of you folk.”

“ _Our_ genious?” Ravindra looked about, everything about us did seem rather ordinary.

“Certainly.” He went down on one knee beside the boy and began to point out the sort of things out that I had ceased to notice since I had come to live in the City of Elua. “Have you ever pondered the generations of work and study that went into the placement and paving of this roadway? Those boats, the very shape of them has evolved over the centuries to be just so… and do you know why? Many reasons that go beyond what suits the water best, its also a matter of the materials available, the tools they have to shape them with, and the sorts of things those men understand how to control. The ropes they use, its always fascinated me how people can turn strands of plant material no longer than you are tall into strong rope of any length they desire. Who thought of that, what kind of person first made the idea work?” He rapped the stonework below his feet. “This wall, it feels as if its been here a long time. Nothing fancy, not even very pretty, but its a work of art as surely as the greatest temple here. You see, when people first came here, it was just a dirt bank, and for many generations that was good enough. But the tramping of many feet caused the land to start collapsing in to the river, and so they drove wooden pilings into the muck, but that wasn’t good enough. Then there were walls of stone, some collapsed, some pushed aside by the force of floodwaters, but your distant kin kept trying until they hit upon this solution. You see, the angle is very subtle, but its there, leaning inward to let the weight of the stones press into the soil and keep it in place.”

Ravindra’s attention was wandering, as a child he had thought in much the same ways as Merrin, and then moved on. What brought him back was when he realized that Merrin was fascinated, honestly enthralled, by all these common things. It made him think of a question he had never answered for himself. “All of these stones are the same size and shape, thousands of them. Lord Dragon, how would that have been done? It is as you say, this wall is old, the oldest in the city. How could men who did not have iron work stone this way?”

“One can guess, but I do not know, young Prince. What I can tell you, based on what I have seen of Humanity, is that you would be surprised. Even men wearing rough hides and beards full of bugs can join together and become very well organized, industrious, and amazingly precise when the occasion demands it. They, you, all of you,” he stood and included all of us in his comments, “are capable of things that fill me with wonder.”

“It is interesting, so see one such as you enraptured by we, mere people.”

Merrin smiled back at the Rani. “I have lofty ambitions, one of which is to be thought of as a _person_ by ones such as yourselves.”

And so it went, district by district until we arrived back at the palace. Merrin was alternating between asking questions and making suggestions that were all more gentle than the one he had started with. Despite my earlier misgivings I was starting to respect him. Sushulana continued to flit about, and I saw the pattern become clearer as we went. She wasn’t just helping those she had touched meet the people of the rest of the city, she was making new friends for them, connections. As she went, the knots of the 'touched' following her gradually diminished, and then vanished altogether. When the crowds around her abated Bao and I approached her, I could not take my eyes off her dress.

“Ah, you like it?” She asked, and slowly turned.

“There is something familiar about it.” I had to admit. “It is lovely, as if it was made for you, but it does not appear to belong to this setting, nor any other I have known.”

“Ah, but it did, not so long ago.” She switched languages, speaking D’Angeline as if born to it. “Favrielle made it as a peace offering.”

“That can’t be-“ I checked myself and then stepped up to her so quickly that Bao had one hand on his staff as he joined me. I had to touch the fabric to be sure, and Sushulana did not seem to mind any more than she had the many hands that had been on her that day. Our fingers can tell us much beyond the reassuring solidity of what they encounter. “It _is_ , but… not. This cut, the style, I have never seen anything like it worn there.”

“No, I don’t suppose so, outside the Hall of ancestors. This sort of thing went out of style ..... hmm, over a century ago, I would say.” There was no merriment in her eyes, nor any other sign she was joking with us.

“This was made… by Favrielle _herself_?” I gasped.

Sushulana smiled at me. “Yes, young Moirin, we-“

Guided by an impulse I cannot name, I reached up and flipped the hood back. “Sidhee!”

Bao was alarmed by the tone of my voice, yet Sushulana’s only reaction to my move was to cease speaking. Her combination of dark skin and yellow hair was now the least exotic thing about her. Those blue-black eyes were not only large and slanted, but had a sweep to them that was not exactly human. Her ears were not just large, they were sculpted in a unique way that lead up to distinctive points, and marked her as a very different sort of mystical being, something out of the myths about the realm of Faerie.

I let my hands drop and took a step back, nearly bumping into Hasan Dar as I did so. The rest of the impromptu procession had caught up with is, and bystanders were looking at the _Sidhee_ woman with a mix of awe and trepidation. Sushulana linked her hands behind her back and faced us with an easy grace as onlookers pulled back or froze in place.

“As I was trying to say, Moirin of the Maghuin Dhonn, we need to talk.”

  * * *

 

Bhaktipur is not a large city, we were all in the Palace and seated around our midday repast just over an hour after the normal noon setting would have taken place. Our Lady Amrita’s hands flashed in calming mudras when she was not eating or drinking, for my benefit more than any one else. I had seen something unfathomable, deep and ancient in Sushulana’s eyes when she had addressed me directly. When I held Bao’s hand, our _diadh-anams_ had twined, calmly as they ever could be, yet I was still afraid. What new peril was this, what delay did it betoken for our journey back to Terre D’Ange?

“First of all, we should tell you about ourselves.” Merrin began, once the room was cleared of all but a pair of servants and two sets of guards, one at the door and another out on the balcony. “But before I do, I have to ask of Bao and Moirin… you have never heard of us, never seen any reference to us or our works, anywhere in Terre D’Ange or anywhere else in your travels?”

“You, specifically?” Bao shook his head emphatically and looked to me. “The only other Dragon we have ever encountered was-”

“Yes, the Pearl, never mind that.” Sushulana interrupted impatiently. “The City of Elua, you were inside the Palace, did you ever see paired images similar to us, or hear of Sidonie’s books?”

“No.” I answered, feeling as if I was dissuading a treasure-hunt for some reason. “Sidonie? _Queen_ Sidonie, mother of Anielle… you knew her?” That question would have come out with a disbelieving tone, yet before I could finish speaking the question I could see the truth all over her face. Yes, she had, and very personally. Sushulana answered me by shrugging off her cape, and revealing a bauble that I had barely glimpsed earlier. A Gold star, artfully done with many rays and some oddly cracked crystal in the center. I went to her side and crouched, eying it closely, and saw Elua’s sigil impressed into the rays of the star itself. “It looks D’Angeline as well. A gift?”

“A boon. This is the Companion’s Star, given to me by Sidonie de la Courcel herself.”

I fell back into the pillows I had been sitting in, head spinning. “How, _when_?”

“At the Midwinter Ball the year she married Imriel. She pinned it to me moments after I launched into a tirade that sounded the death-knell of arranged marriages in the Kingdom… and made something of an ass of myself in the process.”

We were all amazed, Bao most of all. “Arranged…. forced marriages, in _that_ place?”

Sushulana and Merrin exchanged broad, knowing smiles. “What a difference time itself can make, yes?” His words made them think of other things, and soon the smiles faded. They held hands, and Sushulana’s other hand covered the Star while the quiet moment stretched out.

“So… you have chosen to appear _Sidhee_ , or is this something to do with your race?” I asked, boldly perhaps, and because somebody had to break that silence somehow.

“ _Sidhee_ … how cute, but I think that makes me sound rather grander and more sinister than is the case.” Sushulana threw her head back and passed a hand through her unruly curls. “Elf is what I know myself as, it is what I was born as and I have learned to change my shape from my mate, as he learned eons ago to change from Dragon to Human. Oh, yes, we look like such an unlikely couple when you see it from that point, but in fact we were something far more likely than so many other couples. However, we never would have understood that, or lived to see the day… were it not for the Grace of the D’Angeline Gods and the strenuous efforts of some very special people. Would you like to hear about how it all came to be?”

For the remainder of that memorable day, Merrin and Sushulana told their tale. They took turns revealing their past, their lost home world, and the mad path that brought them here. Sushulana tried to be gentle about it, Merrin took a more firm, stark angle as he painted a picture that would ensure that we did not look upon Sushulana as weak or addled. Sushulana had no such reservations, she was devoid of shame or mercy when it came to herself… and the story itself made me very glad that I was living my own life, and not hers.

  
For seventy-two years, Merrin had played at being insane in order to prevent Sushulana from loosing her own mind. She put aside the horror and soul-crushing grief of loosing her family and friends and everyone else she had ever known to pursue the Dragon, and save one world after another from the threat he had pretended to be. At the same time, Merrin himself had begun to crack under the strain, although he could not admit it, even to himself. “I reveal to you now, that you may understand this more clearly, I am psychic. Fear not, I have locked myself away inside my head since arriving here, and I won’t open myself up again in your realm without your permission, Rani. When I am using my powers, I am exposed to the psionic emanations from all sentient beings. Thus the fear and misery I inflicted was reflected back at me. I myself did not understand the damage this was doing to me, but Sushulana did.”

“I _suspected_ , there is a difference.” Sushulana corrected him. “And I was becoming tired of the whole thing myself, being reactive isn’t really my sort of game.”

“But, two and _seventy_  years!” Bao had known Lo-Feng for longer than I, and so had touched longevity in a way none of the rest of us had. “How long do you people live? More than that, you don’t look like a fool, Sushulana, were you under some sort of spell?”

Far from offended, she smiled. “I am now 660 years old. Merrin is, what is it now, love… 5 times that, or closer to 4 these days?”

Merrin could not withhold a smile. “Something like that, and now we have a Birthday to share.”

“Yes, the day Sidonie and Imriel saved our lives.” She stroked his arm with the back of her hand. “And started the process of bringing us together.”

“Wait please, _what_?” As careful as they were being, I was still getting lost. “Together? You must have cared for each other immensely to have spent all those years chasing each other…. and, they  _saved_ you? When? After they were married there are no more great events recorded in their lives.“

Sushulana, not Merrin, drover her fist into her palm with a whip-crack sound. “So, you have never heard of us, our names, what happened in Cytheria, the Unseen Guild, none of it?”

“It is as we thought.” Merrin put his arm around her. “They never even peeled the roof back. Lady Moirin, you have been to the University in the City of Elua, yes?”

“Yes.”

“There is a steeply pitched roof of common copper over one of the halls, faded to a nice white-green patina now. I see you remember it, do you remember if the patina was imperfect? As if someone had worked at it, or tried to pry it up recently?”

“No, and I’m sorry, I did not look very closely. Why? What’s this all about?”

  
“They never found her book.” Merrin groused. 

“Or they did, and they don’t want us back.”

“Please!” Lady Amrita was becoming as annoyed as I was with the way they were talking back and forth. “Sushulana… could you tell us… why you lured a Dragon to this world when you thought he was dangerous? And if it’s not too much trouble, could you clarify your relationship, then?”

“I brought him here because this is the best one. Best _world_ , I mean Half a hundred did we pass through, and this was the one that I thought could cure him.” She rolled her eyes and leaned into Merrin. “As if _he_ was the one who was in danger of loosing his mind, instead of me! Ah, yes…. I was looking for a miracle, and as it happened, we both found one.”

“Shared one, I would say.” Thankfully, Merrin took over the narration and swiftly came to the point; They had both been kidding themselves about what they really meant to each other, and what they had found here was a way to accept each other. That has come after the Prince and Princess had rescued them from some wicked men who had used the same foul sort of chains that had been used on me in Vralia to imprison them. Sidonie had brought Sushulana through her grief, aided by a well thought-out trick engineered by Phedre of Montreve and Melisande Sharizai herself. The two of them working together should have made it a famous story, and not just in Terre D’Ange. Then Merrin explained about the secrecy, and the offer the Gods had made to them. “We wanted to be D’Angeline, and we wanted to protect the place. So, we assumed the role and for 100 years we were the ones that would take the place of the ‘heroes’, provided we work in secrecy. This was not only for our protection, but it was also because the pair of us were a bit… _much_. Too many radical ideas, too many things that the beautiful little kingdom simply wasn’t ready for yet. The fear was that we’d damage the very thing we loved, and so we accepted the separation.“

“But… how could you become D’Angeline if you could not live among them?” I was indignant, yes, but it was sympathy that now drove the words from my mouth. It all sounded so familiar, and unjust.

Sushulana favored me with a smile that would have made even Jehanne weak in the knees. “Oh no, sweet witch, we _did_ live among them, in disguise and flaunting none of our abilities. We could visit those dear to us, for a season at a time if we wished, and we did. My first set of twins came along in the middle of Sidonie’s little Horde, and we shared so much in those days…”

Merrin took over again as a shadow crossed Sushulana’s face. “There were limitations, of course. We could not own property inside the Kingdom nor claim any of the rights a citizen could until the century had passed. Yes, we had developed an intimate friendship with Sidonie and Imriel… some more intimate than others.” He smiled indulgently at Sushulana. Bao caught his meaning instantly and managed to keep his face composed as he made a tiny, strangled noise deep in his throat and glanced back and forth between me and the Elf. For her part, Sushulana was far from embarrassed. Her eyes were half-closed and a nostalgic sigh came from her parted lips. I found myself wishing that I would appear the very same way in the future when people mentioned Jehanne; shameless and deeply appreciative.

The Rani bit her lip, and smiled. “Another D’Angline tradition? You, and the Queen?”

“And her Prince, at the same time.” I had been reaching out to the Elf, but when she said that my arm dropped onto the low table between us. She took my hand in her warm, satin-smooth grasp, and cleaned a bit of humus from my forearm as she continued. “We learned much from each other, communicating without words, and celebrating each other’s uniqueness. Very briefly, they made room for me in a relationship so perfectly close that even the most dire magic couldn’t drive a wedge between them.” She scraped a little dollop of cherry cream from the heel of my hand and popped it straight into her mouth. “And once Merrin and I were formally joined, I was able to be the monogamous and perfectly focused mate he desires and deserves.” The pair of them shared a moment, something passing between them as they looked into each other’s eyes. “Without the help of those heroes, we might never have gone beyond the point where we saw each other as living artifacts to be saved. Ah, but once they were gone…”

“You drifted away from the Kingdom, after everyone you knew had passed on to Terre D’Ange beyond.” It was not a question, even if the Rani was trying to be gentle.

“Yes, and there were other reasons.” Merrin didn’t even have to glance at Sushulana for her to stand and walk to a wall that was clear of decorations. She waved her arms and an overhead view of the city appeared, the memory of a Dragon’s eye-view. “Hold a moment, love.” He turned to us and gave us time to take in what we were seeing.

Ravindra was open-mouthed as he clapped his hands together, and smiled. “Mother! You see, it is as he said… generation after generation, building and improving and leading each other to a greater whole!”

I myself saw a tangle of streets, an irregular city wall and a perspective that threatened my hold on my stomach. Yet Lady Amrita was smiling and nodding to her son, equally appreciative. They were looking at their home, and their life’s work, they could name every building and street. For the first time, they could see exactly how it all fit together. The Rani turned to Merrin; “I’m glad you came here. Could that image be made permanent on the wall?”

“Oh, for measurements and so on?” Sushulana answered her, facing the image. “Yes, of course, I’ll see to it on the morrow. Meanwhile,” She changed the image, making the city shrink as if we were drawing back, higher and higher. I gripped the table hard, and closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them, we were looking at an impossibly vast view, one that included Kurugiri.

“We have turned a blind eye to evil. After 100 years of constantly searching for it, and battling it, we old crusaders finally needed a break from it all. We changed our focus, looking for the good instead. So, for the last quarter of a century, we have had a very different experience, this is why we became aware of you and your Kingdom after you freed the Untouchables. We regret to say, this is also why we were unaware of your struggles.” Sushulana stepped forward and pointed to the area where the Falconer and his wicked Queen had held sway. “What exactly came to pass here?”

“What?” I had nearly lost track of what we were talking about. One hundred years, for a full century these two people had taken on the roll of those the Gods used hard, they had _volunteered_ for it. Having been used myself, I had some feeling for what they had gone through, and they had done it to earn something that I had been born with, the favor of the Gods. The number more significant to me was twenty-five… the number of years since they had ended their service. Just a handful of years after that century had passed, a certain Priest of Naamah had begun his journey to Alba, met my Mother, and I had been conceived. In a sense, I had taken over for them, and now Sushulana had questions for me.

I wondered what she, and Merrin, would think of how I and Bao had taken up their duties.

We explained, very briefly, about the Kamadeva’s Black Diamond and the havoc wrought by the assassins. We did not have to explain how Bao and I had come to be involved, they already knew about us, and promised to explain why later on. We did not press the matter just then, because the more we explained about this past year, the angrier Sushulana became. She stalked towards the balcony until Merrin rose and spoke to her rapidly in a language none of us could make any sense of. I had the feeling that if he had not stopped her, Sushulana would have launched herself into the sky and obliterated the Falconer's Castle. She hesitated, then shrugged and returned to the image of the kingdom as seen from the clouds. “What of this valley?”

“The lands beyond the fort are being left to their own devices. We are giving them a chance to govern themselves without any interference ….” Sushulana’s anger fled and she looked to Merrin with glittering eyes. The Rani’s voice great firmer; “You cannot be thinking of claiming it for your own!”

Sushulana ignored us, so intense was her line of thought. “Imaging it! Self-governing, no aristocrats, no bureaucrats or taxes that the people paying them can’t understand. None of that… perhaps. If they can do that for themselves-“

Merrin cut her off by speaking to us. “You must forgive my mate’s Republican idealism.” And to her; “ _Themselves_ , that is the key word here. Observe and make note of their progress, yes, but let them make their own mistakes. We should be as students in this, as often as we are teachers…. now, if you would continue with the map?”

“Ah, yes of course.” The view seemed to drop away, until the world was so distant that it became abstract. All trace of vertigo gave way to wonder. We could see the lands of this world as they truly lay, from Ch’in to the Umaiyyat, from the southern tip of Bhodistan to a lake that could have been the one I crossed with Alexi. Then, the ‘map’ began to creep in a southeasterly direction. The large view had been provided to give us a sense of scale, now we could see a series of huge islands previously unknown to us. Sushulana pointed to the northerly tip of a pair of Islands at the lower right. “Here, this is close to the polar opposite of Terre D’Ange. We made a home for ourselves here, and found people there too. Not many, and with so little of what you would call culture that they had few misconceptions to overcome regarding us. They proved more needful of help than Terre D’Ange did, and we formed an attachment with them… and the perfect place for troubled d’Angelines to escape to.” She turned her intense gaze on me. “Are you familiar with a certain little chapel dedicated to star-crossed lovers in the neighborhood of Night’s Doorstep?”

“My Father is a Priest that can be found there, as often as not.”

“Did he ever take you to a secret room in the sub-cellar, one with a doorway in what appears to be solid Stone? I see ... no… and it’s alright, Moirin, there would have been no reason for your Father to show it to you unless you needed to disappear from the Kingdom. I constructed a magical gate there, leading to our hideaway. In the Chapel dedicated to oppressed lovers, I gave them a way out. Some customs die hard, and arranged marriages were one of those. Also welcome are other people in difficulty, and orphans… good people dealt a poor hand. Refugees, if you will, and they were welcome by the islanders. So much so that our little Empire is called Nova Angelica, in celebration rather than suzerainty.”

“Empire?” Bao, ever skeptical, asked out loud what the rest of us were wondering.

  
Sushulana looked to Merrin, who smiled and nodded to her before taking up the narration. “The co-mingling of peoples, ideas and bloodlines, was so beneficial that what we have wrought has spread.” While he spoke, Sushulana waved a hand and spread a pink highlight over part of the map. It began at the point indicated and spread over all the islands around the one they had started with, rushing back towards us until only the islands nearest to the continent we called Asia were free of it’s influence. “Yes, Empire. As one cannot simply set aside an old title, I have grown into a new one. You have not heard of this place, and that is all to the good. Ours is a remote part of the world, only gradually entering into trade with the rest of it, and not at all anxious to involve ourselves in the turmoil that seems so routine. We also have generations of intermingling still being sorted out, although this has been more of a source of joy than anything else.”

Sushulana laughed enchantingly. “It certainly has! Joy to you as well, yes Merri?” She walked to his side and knelt on the floor, leaning into his crossed legs and putting her head in the crook of his arm. “Your mate is a halfbreed, as are our children and our people …. in a way none could have imagined before it came to be, and look at these adorable heroes seated across from us! It is as the Chowatti told us; the strongest and most flexible materials are alloys.”

All this talk of half-breeds prompted me to say “Your children must be a ceaseless source of joy to you.”

The reaction told me that this was the worst thing I could have said. The stricken looks they exchanged made me wonder how many had died, or something equally dire. Merrin found the composure to speak first, he even smiled at the soothing mudra that Amrita held up to him. “By and large yes, each of them is a wonderment unique unto themselves that make me puzzle over why I withheld my seed for so long, and thrilled that Sushulana found a way to make me want them come to be, at last.”

“It was the only reason I learned to shift my shape to one that matches his, to tell the truth.” The Elf was forcing herself to smile and be casual, which I took to be a very bad sign indeed. “Three of the four thus far, have turned out to be wonderful additions to our lives, and their attachment to our little Empire in preference to Terre D’Ange is another factor that keeps us away from Europa. However… it is the fourth one that brings us here, and with an offer.” She glanced at Merrin, unsure of how to present the offer, or perhaps unsure of herself.

“This is our offer to you; we can carry you across the Mountains ahead of you in a day, saving you the two weeks you would need to reach the border of Bhodistan proper.” Merrin carefully annunciated each word, and spoke in no hurry. “At some point in the future, say 10, 15 or 20 years from now, we could bring you here for a visit, and the travel time would last only a day or less as well. Conversely we could take you, Rani Amrita, to see Terre D’Ange with your own eyes. Once your son has taken his place as the ruler of this realm, it would be nice to travel about, would it not?”

The Rani just barely held on to her composure, instead of flashing mudras she had her hands flat on the table and smiled with many teeth showing and her head angled slightly down. “Oh, that would be glorious thing! Moirin, can you imagine, taking me on a tour of your fabled City of beautiful treasures? Emperor, could you take me to Galanka?” Her ancestral home, a place she had not dared to think of seeing any more than she had thought the City of Elua within reach.

“Alas, no. We have a rather… touchy, understanding with the Goddess Kali. Taking these two to the border of Bhodistan by dint of our own sweat is the farthest we dare press matters. Using our powers within her realm, a land where temples stand that are dedicated directly to her… no, we cannot. I am sorry.”

“Sorry?” Amrita’s grace was as perfect as ever in accepting this disappointment. “You offer the moon & stars, and I seem dismayed that what lies over the next hilltop is not to be had? Hah!” She turned to me and leaned over to look at Bao at the same time. “I would be your guest in your homeland! Who could have foreseen such a thing?”

Bao’s lack of levity made her cease talking so happily, and my breath caught in my throat as he asked Merrin; “And what must we do to earn this boon, Dragon?” his tone did not make the word ‘dragon’ sound entirely complimentary.

Merrin smiled. “Never let it be said that I do not admire courage.” He spared Sushulana a glance. “Very well, Bao, A decade or two hence, the Lady Amrita will have her boon, regardless of what you decide. As for the rest…”

“ _Us..._  decide?”

“Oh yes, Bao, you and your wife. We have a boon of our own to ask, and one you must consider carefully. You must certainly not give any answer until tomorrow evening, after you have met her.”

“Who?”

Our fourth child, Rilrae, Rae….” Sushulana sighed heavily and stared at the floor. “Teenage daughters are never to be taken lightly, I suppose, but this one… I am at my wits end.”

“Which is saying a good deal more than you would be prepared to believe at this point.” Suddenly, Ravindra became the focus of Merrin’s eye. “Prince, it is late and I am sorry that we are no longer covering very exciting ground.”

The Prince was more than intelligent enough to play along. He stood with a slight smile playing on his lips as he bowed to his mother. “If I may be excused?”

Once he was out of the room Merrin did not even give the Rani a chance to ask any questions. “That boy is at exactly the wrong age, I beg you to keep him away from our meeting tomorrow. For his own sake, it would be a far better thing if he does not see Rilrae. There is a chance that he may remember her, fondly, in the years soon to come. If she imprints on his mind as he enters puberty he may develop more than a fondness for her, at exactly the wrong time in his life. She has just entered a marriageable age, we really need to spare him the possibility-“

“You are actually trying to protect my son from your daughter?” The Rani interrupted Merrin. Not sharply, as I would have done, nor with an offended tone, as I certainly would have been using at that point. Instead, she leaned forward, keenly interested in Merrin’s attitude. “By all the stars, you _truly_ consider your own daughter so unworthy, and such a threat to my dear son?”

“You are absolutely Goddamned _right_ we do.” All eyes went to Sushulana as she crouched at Merrin’s side, her poise as uncompromising as the look in her eyes. “And you will know why when you see her tomorrow. You will have to meet her." Her gaze turned to me. "And our request is simple; we want to put her in your hands for a while. Months, a year or more, or only a few days if that is all you can stand of her. My, our hope, is that you can do something that is beyond us. Help her grow up!”

I nearly fell off my pillow. “You want to foster your daughter, a hellion, with us?” I barked out a very inappropriate laugh, and practically shouted “Why?”.

“Because she has been watching you, and has developed a fixation on you.” Merrin smoothly resumed his narration, dropping one arm over Sushulana’s shoulders. Not protectively, it looked to me more like he was holding her in place. “She considers you to be her Heroes.”

It was Bao’s turn to laugh. “What? What has she heard, that would make us so admirable to someone like her? What tales of us have reached your ears in your distant Empire of islands?”

Merrin shook his head, weary for some reason, and his gray eyes were apologetic. “No stories about either of you, so far, and I don’t know what exactly it was that made her fixate on you, we only learned of all this recently. It was not a matter of hearing, but _seeing_. I have talents that will sound incredible to you, such as my ability to locate people or places from anywhere else in the world… and to see and hear what is going on in that location. Rae has this psychic talent as well, we call it Clairvoyance. Before I took it away from her, I dare say she was becoming better than I at this sort of thing.”

Bao flushed nearly pink, and his reaction made me think of several reasons I should be humiliated as well. I was too d’Angeline, and too shocked, to have the same reaction. “Just barely old enough to wed, and already so powerful?”

“In certain, narrow ways. She pursues paths that intrigue her and ignores broadening her base of understanding. She will appear younger than yourselves, yet she is somewhat older, and her level of maturity is…. “

“Nonexistent.” Sushulana finished for him. “Bao, Moirin, you have something we do not; her respect and admiration. She will listen to you, things are at such an impasse that I can’t speak to her without getting into a fight, and even Merrin’s immense patience is at an end.”

“What do you want us to say? What did she do that was so awful?”

“Moirin, you have such a grand heart, I can’t tell you what to _say_ , but I do trust you to do what’s right. I just… hope…” Sushulana looked to Merrin. Before he could say anything, Bao spoke up.

“How can you ask this of us? We have traveling and some important business to attend to. Our lives tend to be dangerous and we are being pulled by mystical forces through a land that you cannot enter and towards a kingdom you indicate that you have no desire to go to. We have no experience with this business of juvenile delinquents!” Sushulana and Merrin both gave him knowing smiles at that point. Bao cleared his throat and continued; “I don’t see how she can become our responsibility, what if she is killed while she is with us?”

“We absolve you in advance.” Merrin stated cooly, as if he had practiced that line. “And should she survive, we will bring the two of you back and forth to Ch’in from anywhere in the world, twice in your lifetimes, on demand.”

Sushulana pounced on the breathless silence that followed that announcement. “Should you ever want me to do so, I will come to your homeland of Alba. My command of spell-magic is considerable and I am willing to share it, Moirin. Or I can walk about, be seen by your folk and clear up any misconceptions about what you have been calling Sidhee. I don’t know why, but seeing me as I am seemed to give you a greater fright than seeing us both as Dragons. Tsk, it would appear that the Maghuin Dhonn are not the only ones with an undeservedly fell reputation, yes?”

With these incredible prizes being dangled before us, I still somehow found the wit to ask the question once again; “What has she done?”

The smile that Sushulana had been trying to muster fell away, and she looked down at the table as she answered quietly. “In a fit of pique, she started a war. A big one. That is why we must go… tomorrow night?” This she asked of Merrin.

“Yes, the first skirmishes may happen as early as the day after tomorrow. We have not even made ourselves known to anyone involved yet. We have much to do-“

“She started a war!” I had meant to shout, but my words barely cleared my throat. “By herself?”

“Yes, using powers that she no longer has. In this case, she thought she was doing what needed to be done, or so she says. In fact, we will make _her_ explain all of this.” Sushulana gasped and threw a pleading look at Merrin, who held up his palm to her. “She will explain it, and _how_ she did it, to you good people. After that, you must decide if you want to take her with you on your journey. Rilrae is not without her merits. She has much of the speed and strength you would expect from the Dragon-blooded and can shrug off wounds that would cripple ordinary humans. Our daughter has a respectable knowledge of Geography and a sense of direction that has me convinced that she cannot ever loose her way… in relation to the _physical_ world. And, taking after her mother, she knows a few simple spells and can fight passably well with sword or spear, should you be willing to allow her such things.” He stood, pulling a reluctant Sushulana upright along with him. “Rae will be a trial, but she will not slow you down. If you will consent, we will bring her here for you to meet and decide on in the morning.”

Bao and I both looked to the Rani, who looked back at us with a bemused expression. She would not guide us in this, and our shared Diadh-anam was giving us no help either. “I am… curious.” Bao admitted.

I was as well, and so I nodded.

“What we would like to do is come tomorrow, at about the same time we did today.” She nodded at the doorway to an anteroom. “If you could keep that doorway clear, and the space around it, we can leave and return without raising a fuss as we did today.”

“That would be a welcome thing.” The Rani rose smoothly. “You will come and go, through that door, and go no farther than this room?” She answered Merrin’s questioning look; “This palace has had to endure many unauthorized comings and goings.”

“Oh, yes. Tiring, isn’t it?” Merrin had the unusual ability to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Rani's point, and still cast a teasing glance at his mate. He was barely smiling, but I saw something of a rascal in his poise.

“Hey now!” Sushulana reacted as if Merrin had been making a joke. “When we are there, people have every right to come to us with their concerns! What, would you like to hang a sign over our home that says ‘None but the brave need apply’? That’s not my way, and you knew that from the start.”

Now Merrin did smile. “You will forgive us, Sushulana designed and built a wonderful Palace for us that sprawls along, and inside of, a seaside cliff. There are sleeping chambers that suit us in either shape, many fine offices and apartments… and not a single door that can be closed and locked, anywhere.”

“Well, it gets very hot down there, the air must circulate.” She retorted.

“Clearly you have no fear of assassins there.” The Rani did not appear to believe what she was hearing.

“Let them come, if they dare.” Sushulana said, not Merrin, and the way she said it allowed for no misunderstanding. She seemed to savor the notion as a gourmand would look forward to a rare treat. And, lest we assume that she was blustering, she looked to Bao and added; “Taras wept.” Those two words made Bao tip his head forward, brow furrowed as he tried to place that reference.

“Dear, if you wouldn’t mind spelling the door?” Merrin asked her, and Sushulana immediately turned to weave a complicated enchantment on the doorway that I would have loved to observe, but there was little I could see or hear with her back to me. Merrin was also speaking to us; “Please know this; we love our daughter and have tried our best to do what is right for her. However, we have come to the conclusion that what is best for her is no longer … us.”

“You truly think that we _are_?” I asked, standing next to Bao. “ _Why_? Why us, of all people?”

“I am not certain, but Rilrae seems to believe it. We will make her explain herself to you. Once she is done, I think she will be surprised if you decide in her favor.”

“Ready.” Sushulana announced, standing before the doorway, its framework now had a subtle silvery glow.

Merrin bowed to us. “On the morrow, then.” He turned and joined Sushulana, putting his arm over her shoulders as the walked to the doorway. At the last second, Bao shouted after them;  
“Fang!?”

Sushulana turned her head and nodded at him, a wicked little smile playing on her lips. And an instant later, they vanished before our eyes.

Bao was pale and unsteady on his feet, I’d not seen him this way since he had left his opium habit behind. I did not like seeing him that way, and eased him back to a seat among the pillows. Lady Amrita was alarmed as well, and knelt in front of us. “What troubles you. Bao?”

“Yes, what _is_ it? That name, it sounds like many others in Ch’in. Who is that, who is Taras and why did he weep?”

“She killed him.” Bao took a deep breath, his eyes narrowed and he nodded to himself, his eyes were far away. “There was a threat to your Terre D’Ange that was more than just intrigue or assassins. Once, about 80 years ago, the Tatar were poised to take Europa, all of it. All of the Tatar were there, families and all, fleeing a plague in Ch’in and determined to take control of everything they could reach. They were stopped in Skaldia, and that was there the Khan of all Khans, the Il-Khan Taras, met his end. I heard the tale last winter… you know how it is, Moirin, telling tales to pass the time. In this take, the great Khan fought a duel with this tiny woman that fought with a curved sword.”

“ _Her_?” I could no more imagine a sword in that woman's hand than I could imagine the wheel of the Greatship in my own hands.

“What she said, ‘Taras wept’, its a saying among Tatar, and a warning. What she did was…” He glanced at the Rani.

“If that women is coming back into my home, I want to know what you have heard about her.”

“Of course. She defeated him in a duel, Phaing cut Taras to _pieces_. It happened so quickly that his head was still alive. That woman went stomping around, making some sort of speech demanding that the Clans go back east, but it was the head she held up, shaking at them that everyone remembered… and the tears. Khans aren’t supposed to do that. They are not supposed to show remorse, or fear. He should have been smiling at the end, even if it was a foreign woman who did that to him. He died _fighting_ , not falling from a horse or of the flux or a hundred other things. Taras still wept, and everyone took that as a sign that he had gone too far. He had pushed himself and his people beyond where they should have gone. No, it didn’t matter what she said after that, turning back was the only option... for the whole of the Tatar people.”

 

 

 

 

  **2**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next morning, we found a new table and chairs in that same room, and Sushulana already there.

There were also a pair of Guards in the room, and they had helped arrange the new furniture. There was a table and 8 chairs, harking back to what I had left behind in Europa. The table looked heavy, its legs were thick and made of some purple-black wood that supported a slab of sparkling red stone. The chairs were much lighter, made of a white wood with yellow bands that reminded me of the Yew wood of Alban bows. The seats had red cushions and the backs were an open wicker-work that one would expect of hot climes,  I would be seeing more of that in Bhodistan soon.

Sushulana had her back to me as I entered the room with Bao, working on keeping a promise. Using a silver spike to make marks on the wall through the softly colored light of her illusory map, or using a spell to cover a small area with a certain color, it looked like exacting work. She was imprinting the map of the city on the wall in a painstaking and frustrating process, if her curses were any clue. She cursed in D’Angeline when the map faded away, which was often, and I wondered at her choice of languages. “I would have thought you would use the tongue of your Empire, when upset.”

She turned to glance at me, and then back to her work. “This _is_ the common tongue of that place. Dozens of different dialects, and all those immigrants I told you about. We had to choose something that didn’t favor one clan or tribe over the other, but this would not have been my first choice… had the other been available.”

“What other?”

“Long ago, I asked Phe'dre no’ Delauny to create one, a new language that would be easy to learn, simple to pronounce, and was above all, _likable_. She agreed at first, but after constant delays and excuses, I had to accept that she never would do it.” Sushulana fired off a spell that colored the drawn boundaries of the River and the space in between a bright blue, and the illusion collapsed for good. She signed and turned about again, giving up on her project for now. “Phe'dre was complex, brilliant and a fantastic human being, but she had her limitations. I don’t think she ever trusted herself enough to deliberately make her mark on the world, as if she was afraid of what her creation could do. I think she was afraid that the music of the tongues she knew and loved would be erased if she created a common language... if she did her work well. She always did something well, or not at all. Phe'dre spoke 14 languages, all very fluently, did you know that?”

“I have heard the name.” I allowed as we approached the table. Sushulana went to the opposite side, brushing her palms on her skirt. “The Montrevan scholar, yes?”

“She was a scholar, yes, and an adventurer, a servant of Naamah, and an _aguisette_. To my mind the most remarkable thing she did was to assume the roll of foster parent, and raise a broken child to be the finest Prince Terre D’Ange ever knew. Imriel … yea gods…. you have heard of _him_ , yes?”

“Tales of his doings are famous everywhere, even Alba. I know the legends well.” I said confidently, and was promptly shown the limits of my knowledge.

“Truly? Did you know that he talked the Cruach out of the wholesale extermination of he Maghuin Dhonn, just days after Berlick’s attack? He could not sit up yet, his wife and unborn baby just barely in their graves, and that man requested leniency for your ancestors. _That_ was the Imriel I knew.”

I staggered forward, palms going flat on the surface of the table and Bao’s hands going to my shoulders. My diadh-anam pulsed within me, showing me the truth of her words. This only increased my vertigo, the knowledge of what a slender thread my very existence once hung by. There had been an imprisonment of my people, well remembered and a warning forever to be heeded, but the loss of the gifts Berwick had misused were what we remembered more keenly. Was I the first of my kind to know of this near-extinction? I must be, I must…

I could say nothing for the moment, and the material that the tabletop was made of was distracting me badly. Bao was there to support me, emotionally as well as physically. It was he that said; “Cleverly done, if you are trying to convince us that taking your Rilrae under our wing would balance some sort of Karmic debt.” I could not see his face, but I could hear the sneer that must have been on his lips. “And here, you are supposed to be the one that is so shy of subterfuge?”

“Hah!” She laughed in his face. “If any words of mine could influence what is coming one way or the other, I’d have had a fine speech prepared. No,  _messier_ Bad-Boy, there is nothing on Earth or the Overworld that can prepare you what you are about to see and hear.”

“One teenaged girl? Half Dragon and half … whatever you are. I think that once we get to the core of the matter, what we will find is far more mundane than you mystical beings allow for.” Bao was not taunting, not exactly. I think he was testing her, either to discover if she truly was this Phaing of legend, or to make her reveal some flaws that would explain her current difficulty.

“I sincerely hope so, Master Lightning-stick, I really do. But have a care, don’t mistake anything mundane for that which must also be simple.” If he had been wanting a contest, she let him have his victory without a second thought. My own thoughts were elsewhere at that moment.

“What _is_ this?” The red surface of the table had gone from being a curiosity to unfathomably strange once I had touched it. It was rock, had and smooth despite innumerable tiny imperfections. There was also the memory of life in it, somehow. Despite how perturbed I was to learn of that Prince Imriel’s status as the savior of my kind, I could not turn away from this mystery.

“Coral.” Sushulana said helpfully, turning from her verbal contest with Bao to being the kindly instructor to the country girl. “You may have caught glimpses of it under salty oceans. It is not a plant, it is what vast colonies of infinitesimally small animals made to shelter themselves. Look more closely, or use your talents, the material is like an antler but much harder-“

Her hand brushed mine, and this time I used a talent that I had been too shy to use the day before. I looked at her memories.

Bao has his ways of testing people, and I have mine.

I have prayed many times since then, that the Great Bear will help me never be so impetuous again.

It was not just the centuries, it was the content of them. The horrors of a childhood that would have broken the Spider Queen, set aside with a combination of great willpower and encouragement from some remarkable people. Disillusionment with the very concept of evil, her wars and reckless courage tempered by being able to find joy at last… _NO_ -

Sushulana slapped me hard across the face and pushed me away from her. “Have you gone mad?” She shouted, and was saved from Bao’s staff byt the concerned look on her face, and the fact that she spoke her question as a frightened inquiry, not an insult.

“Everything, everyone?” I asked, stupidly. “ _All_ of them?”

The Elf sighed and tapped my forehead with one finger, and suddenly I could not remember what had flustered me so badly and left my heart racing. The bulk of what I had seen was still there, a vast sweep of life and troubles that left me gasping, ready to weep, ready to flee. And then that tap, that left me bereft of the fragment that made it so terrible. As the rest settled into place, I pulled back from her.

“You… you stole a memory, just like that?”

“Not at all, I merely covered it, you may have need of it someday. Ahh… you have seen me as I am, and it repulses you.” While I shook my head and tried to deny it, she pressed on. “Good, you have something in common with my Daughter already.”

  
“You spied on _her_ memories?” Bao was ready to scold me and apologize to Sushulana, but the _Sidhee_ held up her hand.

“Its alright, Bao. I don’t mind people looking at me like that. Do I, Moirin? No, sweet girl, and how could I be otherwise?.” She smiled indulgently, and also appreciative of us. “There is nothing to forgive, my own privacy has always been the least of my concerns... and now you know why. T’was a lot to take in all at once, wasn’t it?”

It was, but more than that, it deepened my confusion, “How? This estrangement from one of your own child, how could that have happened?”

“I think that will do for now.” Merrin’s voice came to us from the doorway. My eyes went to him, and next to him I beheld Rilrae for the first time.

She was like nothing I could have imagined, before or since, there is nothing I could compare her to.

In general terms, she appeared to be about 16 years old, as Humans reckon such things, and in general outline she appeared to be human in shape. Her skin was perfectly black, such a deep hue that she had a slight blue sheen to her glossy skin. Her eyes were a reddish brown, and the lower the light the more red they appeared to be. Her hair was Gold. Not simply the color sgold, but the actual material for all intents and purposes, a mass of shiny wire somehow drawn so thin it appeared to be hair… that is how I saw it. The tips of her ears poked out through the hair, smaller than her mother’s elegantly sculpted ears. In all other ways, she was larger in every dimension than her petite mother. Straight shoulders, broad hips and generous bust combined in a way that made her appear very solidly _there_. Rilrae wore red lace-up boots, a dark blue skirt with red pleats and a dark blue jacket with subdued red pipping… not a very original color, but one that de-emphasized her starkly black skin. She held a traveling pack in one hand and a large floppy hat in the other. The hat was the right size and shape to hide her earsfrom view.

Rilrae herself looked at us as if Bao and I were the answer to her prayers. This hero-worship was unnerving, despite all her parent’s warnings to us. She was a restless young animal, chaffing at the nearness of the overbearing elders that happened to be her parents. It is not to demean her, calling Rilrae an animal, it is for honesty’s sake. There was a power about her, and a lack of depth. Primitive and straining at her bonds… she wasn’t a _lesser_ being, she was only doing what she could with what she had. As a half-Dragon in the flesh, she had an undeniably potent presence, yet Merrin overshadowed her. He was still vastly intriguing, despite that fact that we’d had a day to get used to his aura.

“So r _eal_.” Rilrae said in D’Angeline, and then switched to the local version of Bhodistani. “It is a thrill be meet you at last!” She carelessly dropped her hat and luggage behind her and her curtsy dipped her so low that she knocked a knee audibly on the stone  floor. “I am Rilrae of Velikaluria, and please know that nothing I did was out of malice, especially towards you.” She bounced right back up, demonstrating the dragon-blooded resistance to pain and damage I expected. The smile she flashed us showed me that Rilrae viewed us as a way out of an unsatisfying life.

Merrin glowered down on her, and Sushulana rolled her eyes, I don’t think this was the introduction they had wanted her to make.

“What, exactly, is it that you have done?” Bao asked as he clasped on hand over his fist and dipped his head slightly at her. A more formal introductions were a waste of time with Rilrae, she already knew us.

“You didn’t tell them _anything_?” The black-skinned girl turned to her Mother with real anger, and then towards her Father with righteous indignation. “Well _damn_ , so much for all those lessons on-“

“Shut … your … mouth.” Merrin intoned, carefully yet forcefully. “You will speak only when spoken to in this room, is that clear?” I myself would not have thought of defying the Dragon, such was the impact of his command. Rilrae turned away from him and looked to her mother, a childish trick that got her nothing but a cold shrug in return. We received our first taste of what we would be dealing with when Rilrae turned back to us and imitated that gesture. perfectly. Bao grimaced at her, his culture never looked kindly on disrespectful children. I didn’t know what to think, I didn’t know very much about them yet aside from Sushulana, and the look she gave her own daughter at that instant made me wonder who was truly the most dangerous person in the room.

“Kali?” From the doorway at the other end of the room, not the one that Merrin had just passed through, the Rani stood with the most shocked expression I had seen on her face since the night we had made love. Kali… I remembered the images in one of the temple, the Goddess with the indigo skin and muscular build. Yes, had I lived here and worshipped these Gods, I might have thought the same thing.

“Not so, Rani Amrita.” Merrin was swift to disabuse that notion. While he spoke he snapped his fingers and pointed to the floor, and Rilrae knelt and stayed low. “Her Grandfather on her mother’s side was of a race called Dark Elves. The exact shade of skin you see is common to those people. Much of the rest of her comes from my side of the bloodlines. We have looked into any possible connection with your Kali over the years and found nothing of that sort.”

  
This was when I felt a pang of sympathy for Rilrae. Growing up under a cloud of suspicion, being probed and tested for some sort of connection to a dire enemy, that is what I imagined. That, or being raised in a cocoon of love and protection that any child must find oppressive in the fullness of time, no matter how well-intentioned. Even worse, a confusing combination of both, and the disfunction we saw before us would be inevitable.

“I see.” Lady Amrita stepped up and knelt in front of Rilrae, gazing straight into her eyes and taking the strange girl’s hands in her own as the two of them flowed to their feet as one. “Welcome to my home, I hope you find what you are looking for.” I have mentioned the power of the Rani’s grace often enough. The rebellious young Sidhee/Dragon was properly subdued, and I saw how beautiful her strong features were when she allowed herself to relax. Long familiarity with Lady Amrita showed me something in her own poise not normally present. She was _wary_ of this young woman, and she was glad for the warning that had allowed her to exclude her son from this meeting.

I shared both sentiments in full measure.

“And what is this, a gift?” The Rani asked, nodding at the table.

“Yes.” Rilrae answered before her parents could. “Something modeled after Lady Moirin’s part of the world, with Nova Angelica’s materials and improvements. I think we are meant to sit three on each side, yes Father?”

“That would seem appropriate.” Merrin and Sushulana maneuvered Rilrae to sit between them on one side of the table, Bao and I ended up flanking the Rani, with me seated opposite Sushulana, and Bao facing Merrin. The chair was a pleasing little luxury, softer than it appeared yet firmly supporting our bodies. I could relax completely without any fear of sliding out of it.

The Rani was impressed and smiled to those seated opposite her. “As I understand it, you wish to foster Rilrae here with Bao and Moirin, and Rilrae wishes this too?”

Even spoken as smoothly as the Rani did, the term ‘foster’ seemed to rankle the young woman. “Wouldn’t a coming-of-age be a more correct term?”

“That would depend on the level of maturity being brought to this table, Rilrae.” Bao spoke next, taking the Dragon by the horns, as it were. “Your parents spoke highly of your abilities… ah, that surprises you? We were also informed of other things, such as you starting a war, on your own? Would you be so good as to tell us about that little disaster, and how it is being resolved?”

Rilrae instantly looked ill, and was temporarily saved from answering Bao by the arrival of servants bearing refreshments. They were confused by the table and the unusual configuration of our seating arrangement. Sushulana leapt to her feet and not only instructed them on how to place everything, but helped them do so with her own hands. Technically, she could have been called an Empress, yet she did not hesitate to help with the most mundane tasks. Rilrae, on the other hand, barely moved all through the setting and waited until the servants were gone to speak. Her only comment was “Must I?”

“Only if you want your side of it to be known,” Merrin admonished her, and when she hesitated he took up the telling of the tale himself. “My insolent daughter has, or _had_ , many of the same talents I do, and something unique to her. She is a Dreamspeaker, able to intrude into other people’s dreams and take part in them, or implant suggestions. She has been watching you for some time now, Moirin, and last year she became incensed by what happened to you at the hands of the Khan and that so-called Patriarch. Over the course of the last winter, Rilrae engineered the overthrow of the Khan and his exile, and has caused the Princess you know as Snow Tiger to leave Shuintan with an Expeditionary Corps that is already deep in Tatar territory.”

“What!” I half rose from my chair, making a poor contrast to Merrin’s dispassionate revelations. “How? _Why_ would you send Ch’in and Tatar to war with each other?”

Rilrae had flinched back from me, shamed, but she rallied and said to me; “No! Not with each other, but as allies, against Vralians.”

“That’s….” I looked over at Bao, who was just as surprised as I was. “Isn’t that impossible? Has anything like that ever happened?”

“No.” Bao said, firmly.

Merrin nodded in agreement. “Not in the past, but then there has never been… well, Rilrae, would you care to explain yourself _now_?”

“I… I just told them the truth about what had happened to you. I fed them their enemies's secrets and intentions, and when they saw I was always right they _had_ to do something. This is about righting a wrong, not about me!”

“Why would they listen to you? Snow Tiger suffered greatly because of a Dragon, I can’t see her accepting what you were telling her, even less marching out at the head of an army because of you.” Bao was not being insulting, but too perplexed to phrase his words another way.

Rilrae hesitated, even as her Mother nudged her under the table, and so it fell to Merrin to continue. “She was wearing your face when she intruded on Snow-Tiger’s dreams, Moirin.” The Dragon Emperor’s gaze fell to the table. “You have my sincerest apologies for my Daughter’s actions.”

I fell back into my seat, limp and dismayed. This mad brat had sullied my memories with that Princess more utterly than Pyotr Rostov could have. I spoke the only words that came to mind at that moment. “You _bitch_ …”

These were quiet words, drowned out by Bao’s disbelieving bark and fierce scowl. “What others have you done this with?”

Rilrae was still holding back, humiliated and unable to look at anything but the Rani’s mudra. Again, her Father answered for her; “Vachir the archer, Batu, and Princess Erdene.”

“They all headed _my_ call to war?”

“No, no your’s.” Merrin looked to Bao. “ _Your’s_.”

Up until this point, Bao had been amused at a certain level, but no longer. He slapped on hand to the table and the other went to his staff where it leaned on the chair he was sitting on. “You… you used your powers to trick people into killing each other, and you dare to call it ‘making things right’? In _our_ names!”

“Yes!” Rilrae shouted back at him. “Do you want that Preacher and his Duke sending assassins into Terre D’Ange? Do you want them taking over the rest of Vralia with their evil? Luba drove-“

Sushulana hissed and held up a hand to cut off her daughter’s words. “So you have driven two people’s to make war on a third and call that justice?”

“I didn’t lie about anything!”

“Oh, and what about the other?” Merrin turned towards Rilrae with one elbow on the table. “You were rather proud of that clever little addition to your schemes. You know, the fellow that is supposed to provide an escape for the less fanatical of the Duke’s people. Those that would renounce the Patricarch would be saved by this Alexi and guided out of the war, isn’t that his name?”

“No” I whispered, in denial. “You …. him too? My face, again?”

“Oh, no no, I used the face of the Nailed God to persuade him.” Rilrae answered blithely, in an asinine attempt to reassure me.

“The Nailed God… “ It took me a moment to understand what she meant by that, but when I did I felt as chilled as I would if someone had dumped a bucket of icewater in my lap. “ _Yeshua_?”

Sushulana made a sour face as she repeated her daughter's words silently, and leaned froward to look past Rilrae at Merrin. “She gets that from _you_ , you know.”

I was dumbfounded, as was Bao. Amrita’s mudra faltered as she asked. “You used the face… of a God?”

“Well, why not? He wasn’t doing anything with it at the time, aside from letting some very nasty people use it for their own gain.”

In the face of Rilrae’s irreverence, Sushulana steepled her fingers under her chin, and then cracked her knuckles in a subtly menacing way. “Darling daughter, fruit of my loins, let me speak plainly. If you ever disrespect a God, _any_ God, like that again, it will require all of your Father’s healing ability to remove my boot from your ass without scarring your for life. Are we _clear_ on that?”

“Whatever.” Rilrae was not impressed with what sounded like a deadly serious threat to my ears. She spoke to us, and most earnestly to the scandalized Rani, who’s hands lay limp on the table; “It will all work out, you’ll see. The whole thing was set up perfectly, I learned a lot from my war-dog of a mother-“

“REV ** _EL_** YAYRAX _KIRIN_!” Merrin thundered, making everyone in the room flinch, even Sushulana. Hasan Dar, hovering behind the Rani, looked as if he didn’t know if he should draw his sword or fall to his knees. Rilrae ducked her head, but only for a heartbeat. She looked up at us, horrified, and then turned to her father meeting outrage with surprisingly hot anger. If I was reading it correctly, those strange words Merrin had shouted were some sort of secret she had wanted to keep… her real name, perhaps? Yes, something like that, because Sushulana was looking to Merrin with shocked eyes, not at her incredibly rude daughter, who was now shouting back at her own Father;

“What? You **humiliate** me in front of my favorite people in the whole world, you turn them against me and you want me to be _nice_ while you are doing it?!”

“Stop!” It was my own voice, begging for a respite and slapping my palms to the hard tabletop. “Rilrae, please, can you tell me just one thing. Have you ever intruded into _my_ dreams?” She looked honestly perplexed by my question, so I continued. “Have you ever come to me as the late Queen Jehanne?”

“What? Oh _eww_! _NO,_  I’d never, not like that!” My relief, and it was considerable, was canceled out by Rilrae’s girlishly immature expression of distaste for the nature of my relationship with Jehanne. My eyes flashed to the Rani, dreading the idea that she would be embarrassed or upset. She was neither, yet we were both profoundly disturbed by this fractured family before us. Bao, however, was another story. I saw the muscles in his face bunch up, head down and both hands clapped to his jawline. I thought he was in a mighty struggle with himself, struggling to hold back laughter that would have the worst possible effect on our relationship.

Sushulana was not amused. Her head swiveled toward Rilrae and repeated the word “ _Eww_ …?” in a low and heavy voice. “Would you care to explain that little remark?”

This time, Rilrea drew back and said nothing, shaking her head fiercely. I did not know what ‘war-dog’ meant, but it sounded wrong. It had upset Merrin far more than it had Sushulana, the _Sidhee_ was more angry with her daughter’s distaste for female physical relations. Or rather, how she expressed it. No follower of Naamah, this Rilrae.

“Once again, I apologize for all of this.” Sushulana said to us without looking away from Rilrae. “ _Her_ apology will come later.”

“Look at me.” Merrin told Rilrae, and every eye in the room went to him. “The real problem here, and I do hope you find this to be a learning experience, is that things are NOT fine. The Khan departed for Riva with one-seventh of the chieftains and their warriors. Just under _half_ of the remainder are loyal enough to Erdene to join in her pursuit of him.”

“So many? And so few with Erdene?” Rilrae did appear disappointed. “Well, that’s still enough to assure victory for the right side.”

Her mother was fuming now, but she held her peace while Merrin continued; “You think so? Those men the Khan took with him were the oldest, most corrupt and some  the canniest of his people. They _do_ have a chance to win.”

“No, no… the Ch’in are coming, from a different direction at the same time, and with more-“

Sushulana let her wrath out, in a small way. “Her twenty-thousand won’t be enough to make any difference once you count the Vralians! Riva has an army too. Not much of one, but enough to keep the ratio exactly the same. You have failed to do anything but set them all up for a bloodbath!”

“No.” Rilrae’s voiced sounded small and uncertain, at last.

“Yes! Your father and I have been looking over the situation very carefully. Your friends… no, _their_ friends,” She pointed at Bao and myself, “barely have the 3-1 advantage in numbers that are needed to guarantee success. And even if they did, they could still be killed.” Sushulana grabbed Rilrae’s chin and pulled her head around to force the girl to meet her gaze. “The leaders and heroes, I mean, not just the thousands of ordinary people that are certain to be killed as a result of your actions.”

Rilrae jerked her chin free with an ease that confirmed that the daughter had a measure of her Dragon Father’s strength and toughness, and Sushulana did not when she assumed her natural form. “Maybe this, maybe that, I’m sick of worrying over every conceivable variable. The Duke of Riva will fall, and his whole disgusting little cult will fall with him before they can take over the rest of Vralia.”

“Made martyrs in the process, possibly.” Merrin growled. “Didn’t that possibility ever enter into your calculations? You should have learned more about that religion before you hijacked its Godhead.”

“Oh stop, if it wasn’t for me Aleksei wouldn’t even know his mother was dead.”

My shout sounded odd even in my own ears. “Valentina!” That brave, wonderful woman I owed my life to, was gone? Oh, I wanted to go north myself now. My _diadh-anam_ flared in a firm negative, but I was nearly of a mind to defy it. Bao was of a similar mind, I knew, and destiny be damned.

“You promised!” Sushulana back-handed Rilrae right across the mouth, and shocked Rilrae most of all. "I asked you to hold one thing back, just _one_ thing!"

“You _hit_ me.” She said, face stupidly blank, and making it clear that this was something new in her life.

Sushulana saw my stricken face, Bao’s rising anger, and Lady Amrita’s dismay. The Rani had known of Valentina since I had begun telling my tales when I had first arrived in Bhaktipur. The Sidhee took it all in at a glance and said to her daughter; “ _No_.” Her hand flashed out again, fingers curled tightly as the edge of her hand cracked into Rilrae’s forehead, leaving the rude half-breed dazed and cross-eyed. Before she could recover, Sushulana rose and upended the chair with her leg, dumping Rilrae onto the floor where we could not see her. “ _That_ is what being hit by me is like, see the difference?” She then turned to us with her rage fading to sorrow. “Moirin, I don’t have the words to tell you how sorry I am - _GNAHH_!”

From the floor, Rilrae kicked her fallen chair into Sushulana’s backside. The light chair carried enough energy to slam the petite woman into the table with bruising force and bent her over forward briefly. Rilrae rose behind Sushulana with a vicious grimace that showed all her teeth, towering over her mother. Her voice was a mocking parody of a pleading child, and showed how aware she was of her physical advantages. “Oh _pwease_ mommy, doan’ hurt _me_!”

Merrin sat there gaping at his daughter, doing nothing except looking at her as if she was the stupidest thing he had ever seen. He did not look to his mate, and too late I realized that it was not Sushulana that he feared for at that moment, but Rilrae.

An instant later, we found out why.

Sushulana, also the Phaing of Tatar legend, spun about as if the battering she had just taken was as nothing. There was a grimace on her face as well, one more disturbing because of the more focused power behind it. She held one hand out to her side, I felt a pulse of her strange Sidhee magic lift a pitcher off the table behind her, and pull it towards her daughter very quickly. It was a heavy thing, made of thick ceramic to hold heat for the tea contained inside it. Rilrae brought up her own hand, prepared to bat it aside with a gesture showing contempt for such an attack. It would have been easy for the Dragon to slap the thing aside, but Phaing caught the pitcher by the handle without even looking at it and tipped it towards Rilrae. The contents of the Pitcher rushed onward, and three pints of hot tea splashed past Rilrae’s hand and into her face.

This half-Dragon was not harmed by the hot liquid, but she was sensitive to pain and temporarily blinded. Rilrae had barely begun to cry out when Phaing landed a devastating series of blows. Falling into a crouch, Phaing banged the heavy pitcher across Rilrae’s kneecaps, _bam-bam_ , and then jerked the pitcher up, still crouched and bracing her elbow on her own knee. Her agonized Daughter began to wail, and automatically bent forward under the pain, hands reaching down for her knees, with hot tea still blinding her eyes. Rilrae drove her face straight into the pitcher, shattering the thick ceramic and leaving Phaing holding little more than the handle. The old Sidhee Warrior had already turned away from the impact to protect her own face, and she barely spared a glance at her foe. Rilrae fell to the floor again, moaning and barely sensible to the shards embedded in her own skin.

  
Phaing had used the Half-Dragon’s own speed and strength against her with such ease and precision that everyone was frozen in place while she stood up. Bao had half-risen from his seat but had no time to do more, Hasan Dar had taken only three steps in the time between Rilrae’s kick and Phaing’s counter-attack. Now he stepped back while the woman he had thought to protect cast a baleful eye down at her daughter. “Well, you stupid cunt, if you can’t learn to respect your elders, then you must learn to fear your _betters_.”

Her voice was not triumphant when she said that, but disappointed and hollow. She left us at the table, striding swiftly towards the door. Not the one she had come through, but the closer one which happened to lead out to the hallway. The only other people in room that moved were the guards at the door, who leapt out of her way holding their spears defensively. Once Phaing was gone, I pulled my eyes away from that doorway, and saw Merrin leaning over Rilrae as he tended to her wounds and softly but firmly admonishing her to “stay still” over and over again.

I did not want to hear Merrin try to explain what had gone wrong here, I could not trust myself to look at Rilrae again so soon, and I could not bear to face the Rani. In my mind, the only thing left to do was to go after _Phaing_ , and hope that she was Sushulana again. Bao appeared to be of the same mind, he imediatly followed when I dashed past him.

Sushulana was just ten paces ahead of us, and was not going any further. She leaned hard against one wall with her left arm, the right dangling and still holding the handle of that pitcher. The Sidhee did not seem to notice our approach, shaking and with her back turned to us until I came as close as I dared and rounded her right side. Bao was backing me up with his staff at the ready and wearing a face that hid his doubts that he could win a fight with this woman. I had my doubts as well, until I saw her face, and then her hand. Her face was a very dark red, eyes shut tight, a grimace exposed her teeth with her breath whistling between them. Her hand was bent, purple swellings showed me that she still had that handle because she could not let go of it. Her wrist was twisted, perhaps fractured, and several of her fingers were dislocated.

  
Any notion I’d had that the Sidhee’s posture was a result of any physical pain was disabused when she thumped her head into the wall and said in a bleak whisper; “ _why_?” Naturally, she became more human to me in that instant. Despite the brutal beating and even more brutal words to her daughter, she was devastated by what she had just done.

Call me impulsive if you must, I knelt at her side and set about tending to her mangled hand. “Lady Sushulana? Let me try to help you.” Making my voice as soothing as I could, I implored her “Please relax,” and eased the handle out of her grip. I felt her slim wrist, found the problem, and with one firm jerk, put he hand back in proper alignment with her arm. So far so good, but Sushulana’s yelp and her wide-open eyes told me that she had become aware of her injuries now. I can’t say if I was emboldened by my success, or panicked that her faculties were returning. Hastening to put her fingers back in their joints, I misjudged my grip and what Sushulana was made of, and I broke her middle finger.

Sushulana cursed wickedly and slumped into the wall, tears now flowing freely, those tears all the more disturbing as they fell from unblinking eyes looking straight at me. I flinched back in horror at what I had done, while Sushulana began to tremble and make odd sounds in the deepest part of her throat. Bao instantly pulled me back and held his staff out in front of my body, thinking to protect me. There was no need; a heartbeat later we could see that the _Sidhee_ was, incredibly, laughing at me through her tears.

“Yea fucking Gods, Moirin, haven’t you _ever_ made something better without first making it worse?”

My face went red and hot, and it was of no help at all that Bao could think of nothing to say before Merrin shouldered us aside and ministered to Sushulana himself without even looking at us.

“Is she…?” The Sidhee, the _Elf_ , gasped as Merrin worked.

“She’s fine, just be quiet a moment.”

Fine? Rilrae had been hurt far worse just a moment ago. I turned to look back just in time to see the black-skinned girl come out into the hallway. Aside from a slight limp and a puffy face she looked unharmed. Merrin's healing power made Raphael's teamwork with me look pathetic by comparison. Hasan Dar was struggling to hold the girl back, and having little success until Rilrae saw her parents. She took it all in at a glance and whirled about to run the other way down the hallway. Rilrae showed shame at last, and I felt a flash of satisfaction before she was out of sight around the far corner, Hasan Dar lumbering after her. I felt something different once they were gone, and I also heard Sushulana groan through clenched teeth behind me. I moved to follow Rilrae and nearly ran into the Rani as she stepped out into the hall.

The Mudra the Lady’s hands formed was one she had not taught me, one that somehow proclaimed ‘Here I stand, and will not be moved from against my will’. Every bit of her body and facial expression matched what her hands were telling us. She stood squarely in our way, and looked past us at Merrin and Sushulana. “Will she be alright?” she asked tMerrin.

Sushulana answered for herself. “I’m just terrific!” Merrin must have given some sign, and she looked at him, doubtful now. “Aren’t I?”

“Just stay right where you are, until the Rani of this land gives you leave to go anywhere.”

“Very well.” She said, still leaning against the wall. Sushulana half-turned so she could face the Rani, and as her battered backside made contact with the wall, her eyes rolled back and she sucked in a shuddering gasp.

“I _told_ you not to move!” Merrin picked her up by the shoulders and set her on her feet facing the rest of us, Sushulana holding herself up by dint of her extraordinary willpower while Merrin tore the back of her dress open and laid his hands on her injuries directly. She crossed her arms above her breasts to hold the front of her dress up and nodded to the Rani to continue. Merrin nodded as well, glancing up over his mate’s head at us while he continued to work his healing magic. He was good at that, Sushulana’s hand looked perfectly functional already, only a slight discoloration marring her fingers.

“You are leaving tonight because of what your daughter has done, I see what you meant now. This war, can it be stopped?”

“No.” Merrin said coldly. “It’s gone too far for us to simply swoop in and stop half a dozen armies in their tracks.”

“But you stopped the Tatars at the River Hyas!" Bao protested. "You, Phaing… _Sushulana_ , you put an end to the movement of their entire nation all by yourself.”

Sushulana laughed, winced as Merrin’s hands tool hold of her hips, and then laughed again. “Is that how they tell it in the Yurts? No, Bao, it wasn’t me. My involvement was limited to some very intricate planning and one duel. Merrin and Rennenkampf did all the important things… _nyngh_!” The effect of the healing was making her face do contradictory things, pain and pleasure and a strengthening of her body all at once. Her eyes were terribly dark as she continued; “And its named the _Hyas_ River because the great mage _**Hyacinth**_ died in it, and the local Bumpkins could not wrap their tongues around his proper name. No, it wasn’t me, but now there is work aplenty for me up north. I have to go make sure the right people win this war, and that only the right people die in it… as much as I possibly can.” She looked straight at me. “I am so very sorry about Valentina, you should not have had to find out that way.”

It was a touching moment of decency, all the more considering the fact that Merrin had his hands on the backs of her thighs and her buttocks at the time. Involuntary shudders still racked her body as he finished his work.

“You are right about _that_ , but thank you.” I said. “How? She wasn’t… stoned to death?”

“No, driven out in the dead of winter. She froze, an easier way to go.”

Driven out, by the brutal Luba no doubt, with Pyotr Rostov’s ‘blessing’. I would remember her to my own mother someday. Should I ever have a daughter that I think capable of the such kindness and courage, I would pass her name on as well. My qualms about that war faded, but did not vanish. “How long? How much time will you have to spend up there?”

Merrin answered as he finished his work and attempted to tie Sushulana’s dress back together. “The war itself should be over by the onset of the next winter, if we can head off involvement from the rest of Vralia. Trust in the General of Generals to see that it does come out that way.” He laid his hand on Sushulana’s shoulder to make sure that we all knew who he meant by that.

“She is the more military of the two of you?” the Rani asked softly.

Sushulana glanced back over her shoulder at Merrin. “Why does that always surprise everyone, even after they have seen me fight?” She looked back at Lady Amrita and smiled. “Yes, I seem to have a knack for it. But the hard work comes after the fighting is over, it always does. We have to win the _Peace_ too, and that may take years. That is where Merrin’s talents will be needed, badly. Ch’in and Tatar will have fought a war on the same side, lead by women. The outcome of this needs to be positive, and lead to some lasting good.” She smiled at the Rani and I. "Men have lead the Tatar people to disaster and misery, mayhap its time for a change. Mayhap a matriarchy is in their future. This Erdene, for instance."

That was a tantalizing prospect, but once again my diadh-anam warned me that I was not to be a part of it, my fate was calling me westwards, not north.

“What of your own Dominion?” The Lady Amrita was a Rani, and she thought of this before I would have. “You can travel quickly. yet, as you said you cannot be in more than one place at a time.”

“That will be left in the capable hands of Rilrae’s siblings.” Merrin spoke with a casual confidence, and Sushulana did not pick up on the significance of it until she saw the Rani and I exchange looks. It became clearer to me now, Rilrea’s attitude and restlessness. Not only did she have to live in the shadow of her legendary parents, she also had to deal with brothers and sisters that lived up to their expectations in ways she could not. This was a mess that no God-like powers could untangle.

Hasan Dar returned to us, and not in a way we liked to see. He stopped at the intersection with a perplexed look on his face, and glanced down the other hallway as well as the one he had just come down, with Rilrae nowhere to be seen.

  
Sushulana turned to Merrin. “Where?”

The Dragon walked past her slowly, his eyes still open but seeing nothing of his immediate surroundings. “Someone found her, brought her to a small room. He’s with her now…. Ravindra!” Merrin sounded, and certainly looked, more horrified by the prospect than the Rani was. He took one swift stride forward, and then vanished right before our eyes.

We all looked to Sushulana next, who was standing there with one arm reaching out to the place Merrin had been. “I… can’t follow him like that, I don’t even know what he saw.” She let her arm drop and also stepped forward. “A small room, and Ravindra, is that enough, Lady Amrita? This could get ugly, I’m afraid it may already be so.”

The Rani did not waste a word on recriminations, nor did she hesitate to lead us towards the hidden room she has slept in for so many nights. We moved at a jog, Sushulana up front with the Rani, Bao and I right behind them. Hasan Dar had been caught flat-footed and followed behind me. I caught hold of Bao’s arm and spoke to him in the Tatar tongue; “We are getting that girl away from these people!”

It spoke much about our relationship, that he smiled to hear me say that, nor was I overly surprised by his response. Bao winked and said softly in D’Angeline; “I’m glad to hear that, for a moment I was afraid we were going to have an argument about this.”

  ***

 

 

The sounds of a renewed argument greeted our ears well before we reached the hidden room, or even the room where the tapestry had been displaced to reveal the doorway to it. Ravindra came out of that doorway, pleading with his eyes and motioning for us to hurry. “I think he’s going to hurt her!”

By _He_ , the prince meant Merrin, we could hear him bellow clearly now. “Hate you? No, but I am very angry at you Rae, and why not? Your behavior is abominable, you are making the woman I love hate herself!”

Sushulana made a sound very much like the one my botched attempt at healing her had caused, and she spun away from the Rani with a red face and eyes gone wide. She started to flee back the way we had come with swift steps. Guided by naught but impulse, I caught her up in my arms and held tight, guiding her towards the balcony instead of the maze of hallways she had been heading for. Bao winced, remembering what the little Elf had done to her own daughter moments ago. I was not afraid, Bao could not feel her shaking, the tremors reminded me not of her violent past, but how the Dove I had released in Naamah’s Temple had trembled in my hands. This time, my instinct told true, and Sushulana clung to me instead of resisting in any way.

It was not over yet. We could not hear Rilrae’s words as she stammered out a reply, only the tones of her voice. Merrin thundered right back; “Yes, very much like her. But you have done nothing, NOTHING to earn it. You can’t imagine where any of that comes from and it makes you look ridiculous! Find your own way, find yourself-“

Bao clapped his hands with a crack that echoed like a Bullwhip. “Dragon! It is enough, we accept your offer. Leave her to us now, if you please.”

Rilrae ran from that room and threw herself to the floor in front of Bao, hugging him about his knees with no regard for propriety. Merrin emerged a moment later, looking as if he had a mouthful of salt and no idea where to spit. He had been caught flat-footed in a dreadful moment, one that would have humiliated a being of any kind.

Fortunately, Sushulana was there also. She pulled me in for a quick kiss and then went to Merrin’s side. She took her mate’s arm and said something reassuring to him, and full of gratitude to Bao and the Rani. It must have been something good, everyone was nodding and smiling, but I have no idea what it was. I had just been kissed by an Elf, and my mind was reeling. How I remained standing is something that remains a mystery. _Gods_ …

“Would you mind leaving us, now?” This was from the Rani, and her words cut straight through the fog in my mind. “For just a…. how long will you need to fly this party over the mountains?”

“Two hours.” Sushulana responded confidently. “if they limit themselves to 4 horses, in total.”

“So quickly? But wait,” Bao thought of something I would not have. “Two, no, three horses to ride, and just one pack-horse?”

“If you are placing them at the edge of civilized lands, that will be fine.” The Rani took over the conversation and guided Merrin and Sushulana past me toward the balcony. “Instead things for living in the wilderness, they will be loaded down with valuable things to trade for the money they will need. Now, if you will return at mid-afternoon, all will be in readiness. We look forward to seeing you then.” Her tone made it clear that seeing either of them a moment sooner than that would not be a welcome thing.

Sushulana nodded, smiling . “Be sure and wrap them in the warmest things you have. Rilrae can tell you about that… and… thank you.” Merrin did not have anything to say, he was looking back at his daughter until the moment Sushulana pulled him over the railing, transforming into a Dragon as she went. He had no choice but to follow her, clothes shredding and wings beating at the air as they sailed away into the clouds.

  
Our ears were deaf to all the shouts of wonder at the flying Dragons from outside, nor did we even look. Including the hastily assembling Guards, there were a dozen of us in the room, and all eyes were on Rilrae.

“Let … go!” Bao said through clenched teeth. Rilrae’s grip must have been tight indeed.”Sorry.” She muttered and massaged his legs as she pulled back a little, trying to help the circulation return. It may have looked somewhat odd to the others, the Rani was not amused. She stepped up and clapped her hands, nodding for Rilrae to rise. The black-skinned girl did so quickly, and held her head low in the face of the lecture she had been expecting. Lady Amrita did not keep her waiting long.

“I cannot say I am surprised by what Bao and Moirin have decided to do for you. It is the courageous thing to do, and the right thing to do… for the sake of your parents. I find myself liking them, more than I do you… look at me.” Rilrae raised her head, clearly wondering how much more of this she would have to endure. “You could be likable too, once the true _you_ is found. I don’t think that you or your family are wrong, you are just wrong for each other at this time.” The Rani touched her chin lightly. “At _this_ time. Once you have spent time away, you will grow to be something you can’t yet imagine. You will remember good things about those you leave behind, instead of what now dominates your thoughts. If you allow yourself, you will become something that _you_ can respect. You can’t learn it by being a burden to those you admire, they have only just found their way themselves, and will need some time to find your admiration of them a believable compliment. Now, we have but a few hours…” She turned to me, and then to Bao, “… and so much to do. Ravindra, please see that the best horses we have are properly packed for their journey. Rilrae, please come with me. Your hair and your clothing need some work, unless you would rather appear hopelessly outlandish where you are going.”

Bao and I gave each other a lingering look. The languorous months we had spent in Bhaktipur were over, a few days before we were ready for them to be. That was not such a problem, but now we had a Companion that was likely to be a problem for us.  I asked him; “Do you think that child was ever as round as a dumpling?”

“Oh no,” he smiled at me, “in her case, round like an egg.”


	2. Chapter 2

  **3**

 

 

 

We split up then, Bao going with Ravindra and I accompanied the Rani as she shepherded Rilrae to her dressing chamber. Freed of the need to hide in that little, hidden room, Lady Amrita had splurged on her own comforts. I was delighted to see it, but I did not allow myself to relax until Rilrae had been sent into a bathing alcove. She had gone reluctantly, escorted by an elderly servant and her adolescent apprentice.

The Rani was not wasting a moment, she immediately pulled me to a shelf with various dyes and powders. “We can either change her face to that of a crone, or change the color of her hair to match her youthful face. Changing the hair will be easier, yes? This here will turn her hair a very convincing black, yet it does not last long. In any case, her true color will start to come out in weeks. You tell me that people with red hair do exist … yet…” Her composure was slipping. Not so much that anyone not intimatetly familiar with her would notice, and the rarity of it alarmed me. 

  
“She frightens you?”

“No, dear Moirin, that’s not it. You are leaving… ah, its so much easier to bear now that I know we will meet again … it is the combination of you, Bao, and _that_ girl.” That girl was making such a fuss in the bath that we had no need to lower our voices. “She will be a terrible trial for you, her very Karma is fractured, and possibly at odds with your dharma.”

She might have mentioned that sooner. “Well then, I suppose we can start by teaching her about what Karma and Dharma actually mean.”

The Rani blinked, and then smiled as she hugged me. “I think that would be an excellent place to start. Oh, Moirin, its not the girl herself that worries me, nor the parents… however short-sighted they may be when it comes to their daughter.” She glanced at the bath and lowered her voice. “What if Kali truly has marked that girl as her own? Her parents may have been deceived, and they have admitted they can do nothing for you in Bhodistan.”

Instead of frightening me, Lady Amrita’s words sharpened me, and reminded me of my strengths. What I had endured and accomplished surely could see me through this and… _ah_ , and I foolishly found myself thinking in terms of fighting and trials by fire and so on. What a laugh! Merrin & Sushulana had surely faced worse, and yet the pair of them were stymied by the real test of wills that lay before me; Rilrae.

Bao and I dearly wanted children of our own, and would have them as soon as we could settle down to a peaceful life. What would all we had accomplished be worth if we could not deal with an unruly child of our own? Here was the chance to test ourselves and learn from this girl, and see if we had what was required to be good parents. “I think you may have a point, Rani, but I can’t let mystical menaces and other dangers distract me from the real challenge here. It is the girl herself, and -“

“ _Enough_!” Rilrae belowed from the other room and pushed her way through the heavy curtains. She was still damp and as naked as the day she was born.

“Yes, I fear you have the right of it.” The Rani said to me as we confronted the beastly girl. Like her mother, she has such beauty that many d’Angeline would have looked dull by comparison, but all resemblance ended there. She was not thick-limbed in the way I had taken her for, but powerfully muscled as I had never seen in another woman. Not only in her legs, arms and shoulders, but even her narrow waist was defined with a series of flat muscles. Snow-Tiger had been terrifyingly strong when possessed by the Dragon, a woman as small as Sushulana with a build that was nearly as slender as the Elf. _Gods_ , how much power was coiled up in this body before me?

“Please… I’m not going to hurt you!” Rilrae interpreted my look correctly, despite the fact that she had been disgusted by my attraction to other women. She did not even think of that now. “I just had a bath this morning, and _they_ wanted to put some kind of stuff on me.”

I nodded as she put her arms behind her back and relaxed her poise, and her muscles. She was still shocking to my eyes, and the Rani as well. Her breasts were so large that she could have had the musculature of a man and still be noticed for those first. This made for a strange contrast with her lack of body-hair. There simply wasn’t any, anywhere below her neckline, and this confused mixture of physical maturity and childishness that was bound to be irresistible to the wrong sort of people. It also seemed to sum Rilrae up perfectly.

“Stuff?” The Rani asked. This was a d’Angeline word, unfamiliar to her.

Rilrae thought for a moment and then clarified her meaning for us; “Goop.”

The elder servant parted the curtains and held up a large jar of lard for us to see. “Ah, of course.” The Rani’s hands formed the mudra of balance, fingers interlocked at hip-level, and she smiled. “Perhaps too soon, but a layer of that smeared on bare skin helps the body resist the effects of cold. It would have to be applied before we dress you.”

“I don’t need it.” Rilrae glanced back at the servant, who retreated behind the curtain. “I’m Dragon-blooded. I may not be able to breath fire yet, but I can shake off the cold at will.”

“Then what we need to do now is make you look as if you are a little more Human-blooded, so that your passage through Bhodistan will be accomplished more easily.” The Rani glanced at me. “For _all_ involved,” Amrita clarified, and took the hair dye down from the shelf and gave it to Rilrae. The girl took one sniff and nodded. Without a word or without so much as wrapping a towel around herself, she pulled a stool to where there was a table and a bowl. Seated on the stool she bent backwards and dropped her hair into the bowl, beginning to apply the dye herself right then and there. The Rani was favorably impressed with her attitude. “I see you are used to doing things for yourself. However,” she nodded for the servants to return, “it will go more quickly if you allow yourself to be helped.”

Rilrae sighed and let her hands drop to the tabletop. The younger servant immediately moved in to comb her hair and dye it, as well as her own hands, a jet-black not far removed from exotic girl’s skin tone. Rilrae kept her eyes closed, and I was glad of that. I could not drag my eyes away from her body, now so provocatively posed with legs flexing and breasts upthrust. She was magnificent, and the desire coursed through me in unwelcome ways, once again. We were going to spend weeks, months perhaps, with this girl? I did not know if I should start practicing begging forgiveness of Bao now, or prepare myself to accept it _from_ him.

  
I shook my head and asked; “Have you ever wore a sari before?”

“You mean, what you are wearing now?”

“Yes.”

“I have… no, not really. I’ve had something like it, but not exactly.” Rilrae didn’t appear to have a combative bone in her body at that time. I would not have either after the kind of confrontation she had just endured at the hands of her mother and father, yet I still sensed something dangerous in her relaxed poise. She wasn’t even trying to open here eyes while her hair was being worked on.  “Is there something I should know about them, Lady Moirin?”

 _Lady_ … hmmm. “There is one thing you should know about the fitting process.”

“Yes?”

“Patience.”

“I hear and obey, Lady.” And, she did. Rilrae was perfectly well behaved all through, no matter if it was her being in shock or any of the other reasons I had imagined. Before long we had her ready for our mid-day repast, hair coifed to hide her ears and much of the remainder covered in a Sari fringed with orange, who’s base color was a purple so deep that it was nearly indigo. Gold jewelry looked wonderful on her, and she had brought a few interesting pieces with her. There was a set of earnings that consisted of gold chain that hung from her ears in three different places, these could not be worn without revealing the true shape of those ears. When I asked her why she had even brought them she told me that the truth will always come out, eventually.

The truth of what her own parents meant to Terre d’Ange had yet to be revealed. Would it ever be? 

 

  ***

 

Rilrae was still perfectly compliant at midday and happy to take second place to the conversations between myself, Bao and the Rani. our last meal together, our last chance to relax together for a good many years no matter how things would turn out. We spoke, made promises, and exchanged hopes with her son there as well. There was no reason to exclude Ravindra after his exposure to Rilrae, and the fears that he might ‘imprint’ on her seemed unfounded. His behavior towards the strange girl was perfectly correct and he politely asked about her homeland. She in turn gave him a charming description of the island she called Velakaluria, her favorite among her parents’s domains.

“It is a long, slender isle that lays diagonally across the world’s axis. Not large, only about twice the size of the isle of Kyrnos… if you are familiar with that island, Lady Moirin?”

She did have the good sense to try to keep the rest of us involved in the conversation, for appearances sake. Clever girl, I shook my head and said “I have never met anyone from there.”

“Its just as well, they are nothing alike. The north side of my island is a lush jungle, my favorite part is where a fat, lazy river runs through it at a leisurely pace. Its always summer there, always an easy place to live. Clothing itself is hardly a necessity there, a hinderance at times as it does get so hot. If you want variety, there are mountains near to a mile high, and on the other side of the island there are savannah and small desert areas… but even those are so colorful that its a delight to one sense or another. There are smaller companion isles all around, one appeared to have no water until we looked into the maze of caverns beneath the surface. Imagine a land where there is nothing but scrubland and rock above, and cave after cave below with clear blue pools amid polished stone lit by bright little shafts of sunlight right under our feet. The whole place all very much like the tales of the Garden of Edom, however…. nothing important has ever happened there. I doubt that anything ever will.”

“Then I have no need to ask why you would leave such a place.” Ravindra’s wit was as keen as ever in the face of the spawn of Sidhee and Dragon, and also bold. “Important things have been happening here for many years, and I am glad to see they are over. It is a wonderful thing, being able to sleep in places that are not that small room I showed you to earlier. When I found you running through the halls with that look on your face, it took me back to that time, I brought you there without thinking. Dangerous, terrible times… but now it seems to me that you are running _towards_ dangerous things, not away from them, yes?”

Rilrae was so different from what she had been this morning that she let Ravindra finish what he was saying without even trying to interrupt him. More courteous to this boy than she had been to her own parents, by far. I wondered if she had imprinted Ravindra on her heart, rather than the other way around. A perilous thought, but also one that made me want to smile for some unfathomable reason.

“I am spawn of two long-lived races, your highness. Slowly, do I mature, I have more years behind me than Bao and Moirin combined.”

“Truly?” Bao was the one most surprised by that. "How long will you live, then?”

Rilrae shrugged. “I have no idea, nor does anyone else. Centuries, perhaps, or until I become bored with life.” She sighed. “You, and Moirin, were the first truly interesting things that I have observed. Everything else has been so controlled, predictable. So stuck in place…”

“Ah, I see.” The Rani bowed her head over a mudra that invited deeper discussion. “That island paradise, you described it as ‘your’ island. Is it yours, in fact, as well as in your heart?”

“Yes, gifted to me as my birthright, I suppose. They didn’t tell me about it until after I had told them how much I liked it, so I don’t know if there was a trick involved.” Her poise faltered here, her eyes going half-lidded and her mouth taking on hard lines. “The most remote and tiny of the four ‘core-realms’. My dear brother gets to have-“

“Stop that!” I pleaded. “You were doing so well! Rilrae, you have something that is obviously dear to you, and it is a realm of your own now. How can you possibly be so crass about it?”

“Crass, envious, and now verging on rude again.” Bao added calmly. “A place such as that is more than _I_ would have trusted you with.”

  
“Oh, and how about my own inborn talents?” Rilrae shot back. “I could see things happening on the other side of the world. I could dream in harmony with other people! I could create illusions and make anything seem real, and those were more than powers, that was _part_ of me that my father has walled off inside my head. Would you have taken those things from me?”

“Yes! You started a war, Rilrae, have you any idea what that _means_?”

She wilted before Bao, and shook her head. “No, how could I?”

“Something tells me you will, if you keep going the way you have been.”

I put my hand over Bao’s clenched fist. “A wall? Merrin did not take them from you, as I have done with memories then? Its all still there?”

“Yes, I just can’t get to that part of me!” I sighed in relief, but Rilrae shrank further into herself. “You would have taken them entirely, wouldn’t you?”

After what she had done, I think I would have, and she could see it in my eyes. “Mayhap… and mayhap going with us is not the best course for you.”

Even in the face of that, Rilrae was adamant. “It is! You trust your _diadh-anam_ to lead you, right? I trust my intuition, and I can’t see any way forward for me but at your side. Marching through something dark to find something balanced.”

Now our shared _diadh-anam_ finally had an opinion on Rilrae. I felt a warm pulse, answered from within Bao. Faint at first, and making me wonder if it was simply triggered by Rilrae’s mention of it.., then warmer and stronger to dispel that notion. We looked at each other and then at Rilrae. We knew what we had, then. There have been Kings and Queens that came to the throne at too early an age, with too much power at their fingertips. Even those with the best of intentions can do dreadful things without realizing it.

We weren’t just giving her a much needed break from her family, we were to be her stewards, however briefly.

 

 ***

 

Our parting words with the Rani were out of earshot of the throngs gathered on the walls, and unheard by the Dragons awaiting us on the same field where they had landed the day before. All who looked away from those fantastic creatures could see our three-way hug, I doubt many did. This was also the moment Rilrae was approaching them, leading four horses that Merrin took mental control of. She released the traces and walked toward her Father. He shook his head at her and nodded towards Golden Sushulana. Rilrae hesitated, a huff from Merrin sent her on her way to climb atop her mother’s shoulders, delicately, and with trepidation write large on every move she made. As soon as she was settled in the saddle, Sushulana snatched up one horse in each of her fore-claws and leapt into the sky, her Draconic face set with grim determination.

Merrin remained behind to give us time to get ourselves situated in the oversized saddle on his back. We did not even attempt to ask about the ones that had gone before us, mother and daughter were having one more discussion that was more likely to be a lecture. After asking permission to do so, Merrin opened his mental conversation and instructed us how to tie ourselves in, and to place our glass face-masks properly. They were a wonderful thing to have, they had been properly insulated from the part of our faces that we breathed through, of they would be fouled by mist that would turn to ice.

My previous flight in the claw of a Dragon had been a mystical, delirious experience. It was over before the reality had sunk its way into my mind as fully as I would have liked. Flying with Merrin was utterly different; the reality of it was absolute and, at first, neither magical nor joyful. Wrapped in 3 layers of wool and furs, I could still feel Bao’s arms around me, and little else. I could also see the horses we would ride once we landed, held in Merrin’s claws. His mental hold kept them passive, just a step above sleeping. I also noticed that the Dragon was squeezing and relaxing his hold around the barrels of the horses… and I couldn’t understand why until my own breathing started to become labored in the thin air. He was helping them breath!

On second thought, the reality of this situation had a magic of it’s own. I relaxed into Bao’s grip, and wished I could make myself heard over the blast of wind. The view was breathtaking, an endless forest of ice-capped mountains surrounded us on all sides. All the way out to the horizons, mountains, more than I had ever seen in my life, and every one of them would have been the tallest in any Kingdom I had ever seen before, or since. If each of them was truly the abode of a God, then our world must have a veritable army of celestial beings watching over them. I pointed, looked back at Bao, and wished I could speak to him-

**Pardon the intrusion** the Dragon’s voiceless words came to me. **But if you would, we should talk before we land, and this is the only practical way**  
The surprising part was how gentle he was being. I am not sure how we did it, but we gave our permission, and we even asked a question before Merrin was able to say anything.

**Yes, we gave an island to her, but I don’t think she understands the significance of it. Velekaluria is not as large as other islands, yet its rich in beauty & resources and was a place we had considered for our own dwelling, Sushulana and I. It is more than that, its more than a bit of land and the isles beyond… its a _direction_. The vast ocean, a multitude of islands all the varied peoples out there, we think she could turn out to be the one that can handle those limitless challenges the best of all. That is just one of many things that we have failed to explain to her. Perhaps, if the moment is ever right, could you try?**

Whatever I had meant to ask flew from my mind, it its place came doubts and fears. If such estrangement could happen to creatures such as these, what would come of my own attempts to raise children? Merrin responded by thinking of his other children, the joy they had given him and the pride he took in their very being. Rilrae was not excluded, her earlier years had been bright and full of promise. If anything, she had been her Mother’s favorite and her Father’s highest hopes had seemed justified. Things had only begun to slip with the onset of puberty and reached the crisis point we were now at in a matter of months. The discoveries, the betrayal of trust, the lack of remorse, it had hit them all harder than it had us, naturally.

Merrin asked once again if we were sure we wanted to take her on. Bao’s grip on me tightened, telling me his answer, and I gave my own with a nod.

The rest of our journey was passed peacefully. Merrin flew lower and lower in the passes, and we had few glimpses of the Golden Dragon until we came upon her landing place. My mind locked up tight, I should have asked Merrin questions, I should have asked him advice, anything about Rilrae that we could use, but I could not pick anything out from my whirling thoughts before we came in for a landing. Fortunately, Bao did think of one thing. **I don’t suppose it will make much difference if you let her carry them** Merrin thought answered my Husband. **She is nearly as dangerous without her weapons, and will be less surly if you allow her to have them.**

The horses stood with heads hung low and eyes glassy, Merrin placed his next to the ones that his mate had brought and crouched low to allow us to climb down. We were in a flat meadow not far from a cliff that would give a good view of the world beyond when we approached close enough to look over it. The Dragons were taking no chances on being seen from the valley below. No longer surrounded on all sides by mountains, a vast blue-green plain beckoned to the south. I gauged that we had 2 or 3 hours of daylight remaining to us, and Merrin assured us that this would be enough time to ride to the nearest Estate that would give us shelter. There was no time to waste, for us or for the Dragons.

Rilrae had been looking up at her mother, there was a silent mental conversation happening between them that I don’t think even Merrin was privy to. I thanked Merrin  for bringing us safely to this point, and I did so aloud. Rilrae nodded at her mother and turned to face us, her face an obsidian mask, but she did not take a step towards us. For a heartbeat, I thought she would not take one, I thought she would recant and go with her parents instead of us. What a relief that would have been, but it was not to be. Rilrae glanced at her father, and shook her head. **Take care of her, please? ** Merrin thought to us and turned away, launching himself into a shallow climb without stirring much more than a breeze in our direction.

Rilrae still hesitated to take that step. Sushulana’s elegantly sculpted head dipped, and nudged Rilrae forward so gently that the girl did not stumble at all as she started walking towards us. The Dragon then threw herself skyward and chased after Merrin. Before she had gone far, she looked backwards over one flexing wing, at her daughter.

Rilrae did not look back, not even once.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to the fact that chapters 1 & 2 are entered as one, this is really chapter 4. Nothing is missing here.

4

 

 

“This does not look like the caravan trail linking Bhaktipur with the rest of the world, not to me.” Bao looked down at the narrow path leading down from the cliff towards the foothills below. I was at his side, mounted as he was on a horse that stood as if slowly waking from a dream, and wondering what we were doing there.

“Psst!” Rilrae was behind us, not looking over the cliff with us while she secured the pack-horse’s lead to her own saddle. She did not even glance at us as she said softly; “Look to your right.”

We did, and could see the Caravan route proper, and the place where our own path would meet it. I was immediately suspicious. “Rilrae, I thought you said your far-sight was walled off from the rest of your mind.”

“Oh, it is, for now.” She smiled as she mounter her horse, a great beast that would have done a Knightly warrior proud. “But we have maps. I did a little studying last night. Would you like me to lead the way?”

“We need to talk, you and I.” Bao leveled a cool stare at Rilrae.

“Tomorrow.” I did my best imitation of one of the Rani’s calming Mudras, for the both of them. “The sun is going down and I would rather not be caught up here overnight. I for one would much rather be down there, preferably housed in a nice, comfortable Inn.”

“Then follow me! I’ll take care of everything.” And without waiting for so much as a nod, Rilrae lead the way down the trail, acting as our guide and minding the pack horse at the same time.

“For now…?” Bao softly said, quoting Rilrae with a worried look on his face. We could not speak further as the path narrowed and we made our way down to the caravan route single-file. The strange teenager glanced back at us often, smiling and doing her best to make up for the damage that first impressions had made. I studied her as much as I was able, and she did appear to be nothing but a young woman, eager to please her  _heroes_.

I had enjoyed adulation in Ch’in, in as much as I was able without Bao at my side. I had briefly been fete’d by the Tatar after winning and archery contest, and I had very much enjoyed the time that had just ended in Bhaktipur. Alexi had held a variety of opinions about me when we had known each other, but to be fair Bao had as well. Through all of that, I had never thought to confront such naked admiration, untinged by anything negative. Was there anything realistic about her view of us?  
What HAD she seen, exactly?

The possibilities were terrifying, and her revulsion regarding female-female sexual relations made me wonder just what she truly thought of me. And if she was so enamored of me, why in all the Hells hadn’t she done something about it when I was being tormented in Vralia?

That question bothered me so much that I decided not to wait for Bao to take the lead in questioning her. When we met the Caravan route proper it was wide enough to ride two abreast. I kicked my horse into a trot until I was able to walk it by her side. Rilrae did not turn her head, she looked at me out of the corner of her eye, perhaps dreading what I was about to ask her. Was she a mind-reader, like her father, even when people were not dreaming? Was she simply nervous, as I would have been at her age had I ever had occasion to meet the Cruarch himself?

I sighed inwardly, but I had to know something. “Could you ever travel, appearing here and there the way your parents do?”

Her grimace told me this wasn’t the best way I could have started. “No, no talent for it. I can…. _could_ , see farther and in greater detail than they can, but I can’t even manage what you do with the twilight. Why, are we in a hurry?”

 _We_ …. I sighed again. “That’s not it at all. I was wondering why you did nothing to help me when I was a Prisoner of the Patriarch.”

She clinched her teeth and leaned farther forward in the saddle, as if she had a sudden stomach ache. “I…. damn.” Now at last, she turned her head to face me. “The last little bit of advice my mother gave me was that I should emulate her in just one way with you, and be ruthlessly honest, especially when it came to myself.”

  
“That sounds like the best advice anyone could have given you.” Bao said from right behind me.

“Great. _Marvelous_.” Rilrae looked forward only to check the trail from time to time. For the most part, she looked at Bao and I when she spoke. It was not until days later that I reflected on what sort of courage that must have required. “I wanted to see what you would do. Moirin, I first found out about you because of the so-called scandal that landed you in the Palace and made everyone start talking about you. Look…. there was nothing ugly about you and Jehanne, it just that I would never have… you know…”

“No. I don’t know.” I forced the words out one at a time.

“That whole thing about physical relations, it scares me. And the way you do it, its so personal, so direct.” She shivered. “And when you do it with another _woman_ , its like they already know everything important about you before you even get started…. at least a boy would fumble and hesitate a little! I mean, even I would know how some things feel ... I mean...”

“Your a virgin.” I had wanted to make that sound more like a question, but so be it. I had the sense that despite her mother's advice, Rilrae was being less than honest with me. “Very well, but however interesting that would be so some people, your not answering my bedamned question!”

She winced, and nodded. “Fine then, you want to know why I held back, and didn't tell my parents about you? First of all, it was _my_  own thing, watching you. Try keeping something for your own in a place where people can read your thoughts! I was _entertained_ , it was fantastic to watch you, your adventures and even when you were bored and doing pretty much nothing it was still fun to check in on you from time to time. I even learned those breathing exercises with you. However, I wasn’t all that sympathetic to you until you followed Bao into Tatar lands when you could have done just about anything _but_  that.” In saying that, she showed she did not truly understand the _diadh-anam_ , or what it meant to us. So much for Rilrae being a skilled mind-reader. “That was when I started watching you more closely, even if you didn’t know why he had left you. And when you were caught and taken to that place…. _rrraaahh_!”

The sound she made was inhuman, a sizzling note of anger that spooked the horses as if they had just realized that a Crocodile was among them. All my persuasion was needed to keep them calm. Rilrae fell back a little, and then caught up with me. “I didn’t know you yet, not really. I wanted to see what you would do, I didn’t know if you would surrender to them or stay true to your own Gods, the Bear in particular. I couldn’t tell, and they way you took your Baptism made me think you had given up. But right after that…. ah, you were magnificent! You resisted them all along, you inspire me in ways I can’t even name. The way you threw all his fantasies back in that old pervert’s face, it was beautiful!”

She smiled… and instead of being outraged, that smile made me wonder how it was that this girl at the verge of womanhood could possibly be a virgin, raised under Eluine tenants as she was. Her smile vanished before I could comment on it.

“I would have gone straight to my parents, but something had been holding me back, and made me hesitate just a little longer. You see… Sushulana had crossed worlds to bring Merrin to Terre d’Ange, and he has humbled himself before the Gods… and then they were practically exiled! Why?” She punched her saddle. “Because if the Gods can’t interfere so much, they sure don’t want a couple of super-powered mortals doing it! Well, I don’t want to be exiled, I want to see Terre d’Ange with my own eyes someday. So, I watched a little longer, and that Valentina you talked to & thanked for being reasonably human to you, well, went straight to work on Alexi. That made me smile, and I refrained from flooding that whole town with nightmares that would have made their hearts explode in their chests… or just going to my bedamned mom and let her run amok there…. what?”

I felt the blood drain from my face just imagining that kind of power in the hands of any sentient being. Waking minds were beyond her reach, but everyone must sleep at one time of another! Bao must have been giving her a hard look, Rilrae made a face and slumped in her saddle. “I didn’t _do_ either, so relax. You made it out of there, and you went straight to Bao and you _made_ it. Oh, and you... poor Bao, you had forgotten so much but you still went straight to the Palace the very first chance-“

  
“Wait!” I saw Bao hold up one hand behind me. “What did I forget, exactly, and how can you be so casual about all this talk about killing masses of people in their sleep and starting some infernal _war_!?” Rilrae just stared at him for a moment. Bao continued; “You tell me _that_ , and then maybe tomorrow we can talk about this foul way you speak of your parents, especially your mother. I wanted to crack you across your teeth for that with my staff, and I still may do just that!”

“Bao, please!” I held out a hand towards him, as if to ward off his staff. A glance was all I needed to see that it was still slung over his back. He winked at me as Rilrae turned frontwards again. In response to him, she had her head held high and back rigid, looking for all the world like an offended Comtess'.

“Yes, war is awful, or so I have been told. I have also been told that it happens because some things are worse, and I wasn’t going to let that old pervert finish his book about you. Ah, Moirin, not _just_  about you, but he would have used a twisted version of your testimony to bind it all together. He would have used you, and your story of Bao, and he would also have besmirched Snow Tiger and Lo-Feng. His real intention was to foster a Holy Crusade against Terre d’Ange and all it stands for.” She turned to us again and spoke through clenched teeth. “As his donkey-loving _Duke_ had been wanting him to do for years!”

Bao sounded as if he had just been kicked in the stomach, which was close to how I felt. “Well, just excuse the almighty Hell out of me, but… what are you talking about now?”

“Well sir, and you wife knew nothing of this, but I wasn’t just watching _her_. That disgraceful Duke wanted something that would propel him to the Court of his vast land, far to the West. He would have left that freak of a Patriarch behind, I’m sure of that, he would not want too many people to meet _that_  guy, but the Duke would have taken the newly converted Moirin and those documented pages. Vralians have never trusted Terre d’Ange, and this would have been all he needed.”

“To start a war?”

“Not a real one, perhaps, but a campaign of hate; Pirates in disguise, subversion of your allies, firing up the Skaldi against you, all sorts of self-enriching raids on the fringes of your realm in the name of faith, and so on. Assassinations would eventually become common. Once Vralia had made Terre d'Ange weak enough, they would come out openly against the Kingdom. They could not conquer and occupy it all, but they think they could force the radical version of their religion on that land... a Religion which by then would also have taken over Vralia itself, completely.”

  
It was now my turn to ride with clinched teeth and bent forward. If I had turned my back on the Maghuin Dhonn it would have doomed and damned far more than just myself and Bao. “Your parents, they will stop this, yes?”

“Yes. They won’t just kill those two men, they will make it happen in a way that refutes everything that they wanted to make happen, every perversion of their own religion, and count on my father to make sure that those archives go up in flames.”

I wished Merrin and Sushulana well. The vision that Rilrae's words conjured up was unbearable. Terre d'Ange reduced to a ghastly imitation of Riva? No.... no.... in the face of that image I had to admit that Rilrae had spoken truly. War happens because sometimes, _sometimes_ , the alternative is worse. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has been so long since I worked on this one, but unlike Covenant I was able to just dive right back in, and it feels great!  
> Just give me a few minutes to edit this one in Rich Text, maybe an hour.

**5**

 

The first outpost of civilization that we reached was a way-station for Caravans, caught by surprise when we appeared, and happy to see that there we just the three of us. It was still early in the season, we were the very first to arrive in a place that was not quite ready to accommodate any large parties.

“This is all to the good, very good for us.” Bao remarked to me in the Scholar’s tongue. “It may be weeks before anyone arrives here. We will be far ahead of travelers from Bhaktipur, and stay ahead of anyone that knows our story if we keep moving. And so we must, at least until we have relieved ourselves of Kamadeva’s accursed diamond.” He sighed and glanced northward. “I should have thanked the Dragons, profusely so! I think I would have, had we not been so distracted by our strange predicament.” His eyes came to rest on Rilrae’s dark face.

I understood what Bao was speaking of instantly. The black diamond that had empowered the Spider Queen was resting inside a small iron-banded box, inside a leather bag strapped to my thigh. The box was just large enough for the relic, and some cotton padding to prevent any tell-tale rattling. Our security on this journey had been the topic of much speculation in the preceding weeks. Everyone in Bhaktipur knew our story, and everyone down to the mule skinners knew that we now carried a jewel that could elevate anyone that held it to magnificence in the eyes of all who beheld them. Word would spread like wildfire in Bhodistan as soon as the first caravan reached it, we had pondered how large an escort would be required to keep it and ourselves safe … and decided that it would be best for Bao and I to travel alone in secret, shrouded by Twilight as much as possible. It would have been a long, lonely, and very tense journey, and largely confined to back-roads and wilderness.

Rilrae had saved us from all that dreary inconvenience. I nodded slowly at Bao. “What price will we pay in return?”

 

The rest station for Caravans was located amidst several lush mountain pastures that were all separated by fences built of much stone and a few timbers. A rushing mountain stream had been dammed in two places, one in the midst of a large pasture and another next to a cluster of rough-hewn buildings. The twililight was fading to almost nothing as we approached, and the lights in the windows were being extinguished one by one. Rilrae pulled a small horn from her saddlebags and gave it a mighty blow. Louder than I thought it would be, it was part trumpet and part whistle tand made the horses flinch. The packhorse nearly left the trail before Bao grabbed it’s trace.

“Crazy girl!” He shouted at Rilrae while I did my best to calm her horse and my own. “Why did you do that?”

She gestured to the main building, where lights were being rekindled, and suddenly let her arm drop. “Oh, I dunno, why are you two talking _about_ me in that chattery language, instead of talking _too_  me?”

I felt guilty about that as soon as she said it, but I also agreed with Bao when he said; “Why can’t you behave like a normal young woman?” She made a face at him, which only made things worse. “You _must_ try, and don’t you dare make a fuss about it. You say you admire us and wish to help, start proving it! Don’t you have any idea how much more difficult you will make things for us if you appear strange… _overly_  strange, to these people? You know of the Black Diamond-“

Rilrae hissed, true revulsion write large on her face. “Keep that thing away from me!”

Bao and I exchanged glances, and the corner of his mouth curled upwards just a fraction. “Rilrae, should your antics cause Moirin and myself to be detained, I charge you to bring that accursed thing to the temple. You must accept this charge here and now, or you can turn around and go back, to Bhaktipur. Perhaps the Rani can give you the guidance you need, but what we are doing is too important-“

“I accept!” Rilrae said in a panic. “But you have to tell me _what_  normal _is_!”

Bao closed his mouth slowly, and looked to me again.

I was not sure what to say. On the surface of it, we were dealing with a spoiled Princess, one for whom the gifting to her of an entire island that she clearly loved was something she scoffed at. There was more to her than that, else I would never have accepted this situation, no matter what the benefits. “Rilrae, if you have been watching us, you must have some idea of how a woman your age normally behaves… in several cultures. Try to remember how young women act in those places…” I caught the bemused look in Bao’s eye, and hastened to add; “… not how you have seen _me_  behave at times. Stone and Sea, do you have any idea how uncomfortable _that_  revelation in itself makes me feel?”

Rilrae seemed properly humbled, for the moment. She pulled up a fold in her garment that served as a hood. “And who am I to be, publicly?” She nodded at the path ahead of us, a young lad was dashing out to meet us, he would be within earshot in a moment.

We had not had time to talk or even think much about this. In all our travels, neither of us had to traveled under any sort of fictional guise, with the exception of smuggling the Snow Tiger and her Dragon across Ch’in. It had not been a complete success, nor the sort of experience we looked forward to repeating. “We are who we are.” Bao said quietly. “As for you… I am open to suggestions.”

She sighed, and her hand clenched around the reigns. “Your servant girl, earning her passage south in the hopes that she may one day see her homeland again, on the slopes of Mount Kilima N’jaro.” Sensing our next question she continued, moving his lips as little as possible; “It is a real place, off to the southeast of Saba. We may run into somebody that knows of it, third-hand, but the chance that anyone we meet has ever been there is practically will.”

“Have you ever been there?”

Rilrae lowered her head further, and shook out a quick negative.

“Hello and many bright greetings to you!” the lad called out to us fas he jogged the last few steps. “I am Anath of Soanka, as we call this humble little place. To whom have I the honor of greetings?”

The language was like that in Amrita’s valley, as I expected. I also expected that there would be variations in dialects as we traveled to the sea.

Bao spoke from the rear of our little procession. “I am Bao of Ch’in, and this Lady before you is Moirin of Alba, my wife. And this girl is our servant, Rilrae. Please be patient with her, she is a mute.”

“What?!”

“Ah, my mistake, she _is_  obviously deaf.”

Rilrae spluttered, rolled her eyes and gnashed her teeth before she finally stammered out a “Yes, honorable Uncle”

Anath. burst out in laughter. “My, you certainly are a merry little band, are you not?” I laughed in return, a little surprised at his forwardness after so long in Bhaktipur. “Forgive me,” he hastily amended, “I am truly a rural and unschooled son of a Mule-drover. Yet it is a delight to see you all here, and in such fine fettle…” His look did become curious towards us, and I realized it was not because of Rilrae. Aside from being wind-blown we showed little sign of having crossed the high passes in a way that he understood. Our horses were also in excellent condition, and Anath took the packhorse lead from Rilrae. “If you please? We should hurry before we lose what little light we have left!”

He took off at a jog again, and the packhorse followed him eagerly. All of our horses did, sensing that stables, water and food awaited them ahead. “Do not be expecting all your days to be so easy.” I said softly, in Alban.

We accompanied our horses into the stable, perhaps another peculiarity of ours was how we lifted our saddlebags from our mounts before the young man waiting there could reach them. These bags contained our portable wealth, coins and things we would need to sell or trade along the way in order to finance our long journey back to Terre d’Ange. Rilrae put her own over her shoulder and also took the trunk from the packhorse that contained the rest of the things that were too valuable to leave in the Stable. Encouraging as it was to see she was making an effort to play the part of the servant girl, the ease with which she hefted the trunk would shock anyone that knew what it weighed. I gave her a sharp look, and she sighed and did a passable job of pretending that the load was heavy for her.

Anath watched her trudge past, and nodded approvingly to Bao. “Your niece is certainly the helpful one, isn’t she?”

“I think it should be obvious she is _not_ my niece, nor any relation to my wife.”

“Of course, sir.” Anath’s bland reply indicated that his actual level of interest in the matter was exactly what propriety demanded, which is to say; nothing at all.

At this late hour there was little left in the kitchen but tepid tea and some cold rice-balls favored with a touch of vinegar. We had little interest in even that much, but we did insist that a bedding roll for Rilrae be set down in the room that Bao and I would be sleeping in, rather than letting them put her up in a corner of the servant’s quarters. The other servants were already abed, the only other man we saw there was an older fellow with a graying beard and broad shoulders, a hard man who was somewhat off-putting yet asking a fair price for putting us up. He did not look twice at the Bhaktipur coins we paid him in, and bade us a gruff goodnight with the promise of a fine breakfast. Upstairs we found a large and well-appointed room with lamps lit and fresh linens on the bed already turned down for us, and Bao chuckled.  
“No wonder that big fellow was grumpy, I think he gave us the only room that was ready for us; his own!”

Rilrae walked past him, and past the mattress rolled up in the corner, meant for her. She was alert and as energetic as I had seen her all day, like a Hunting Dog that had heard something interesting. I had expected her to either show gratitude or argue with us for making her stay in our room, but now she barely seemed aware that the two of us were there.

“Grumpy?” I said to Bao as I shrugged off the heavy furs, watching Rilrae open the window abruptly. “I don’t know, but he gave me a bad feeling, he reminded me of that caravan master that brought me to Bhaktipur. I suppose we should be glad that there was anything ready for us so…. Rilrae!” She was leaning out of the window so far that her legs and posterior were all that remained inside the building. “What is _wrong_  with you! Get back in here before you hurt yourself. Or, something.”

She obeyed me instantly, and shut the window. She even closed the latch, making Bao raise he eyebrows. This strange girl was either defiant or utterly at our command, was there no middle ground with her? The next thing she did was dash to her baggage, and untied something that was too large to go bags or trunks. This was a polished bit of metal pipe four feet long with a gilded wooden icon at one end, an odd piece of baggage I had meant to ask her about when we had time. She yanked the wooden head from it to reveal a spearhead the size of her hand, flipped a catch and began to unscrew it. “I’m supposed to ask you before I take this out-“

“Yes, that was the agreement!” I sternly reminded her. Bao stepped up close to her, ready to snatch the thing out of her hands. I think he was also a little intrigued by the weapon, especially when she was done unscrewing the head. The hollow shaft was as big around as my wrist, and the head of the spear did not fall free, it was attached to a more slender rod inside. Rilrae extended the rod and twisted it to secure it somehow. This doubled the length of it and she now had a very respectable spear in her hands, and the heaviest one I have ever seen.

“Very well then, I believe that we have just checked into an Inn full of bandits and murderers and I would like your permission to defend myself, if that is alright with you.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This book is going so well that it should take much lest time than the last one, even if it adds up to triple the word-count. 
> 
>  
> 
> \-- again; nothing is missing, I posted chapters 1 and 2 together at the start--

**6**

 

Such was my irritation with her at the end of this long and dreadful day that I nearly took the spear from Rilrae myself. I hesitated because she held it as if she knew how to use it, and that hesitation allowed her words to catch up with my thoughts.

She was speaking d’Angeline, perfectly.

After months of hearing and speaking the language of Bhodistan, I needed a moment for that to come clear in my mind.

Bao did not need that moment; “Crazy girl, how can you know that? What _are_ you talking about!?”

“Things I noticed!” Neither of them felt the need to be quiet. “Women are the lesser people in this part of the world, but did you see any roused to serve us or show us the way to our room? Did you notice _any_ at all? Were there any children peeping at us from windows or doorways? That other boy in the stable was _older_ than Anath, if anything. That older man downstairs was a bit off-putting, wasn’t he? And that loom in the corner-“

“None of this proves anything!” Bao spluttered. “What do you think you will do with that great big thing, inside a building where the doorways are smaller than that spear is long?”

I took a step forward and attempted to imitate one of Amrita’s calming Mudras. The way Rilrae was standing her ground and Bao looked ready to disarm her himself made me think of a philosophical question that had been bandied about in the Palace of the Courcels; something about what would happen when the immovable mass was struck by the irresistible force. “Please, don’t shout. Rilrae, what did you see when you were leaning out of the window?”

“Nothing. I was looking for a mass grave, what maters-“ 

“What… a mass grave?” I had a grim flash-back to the battle of White Jade Mountain, and it’s aftermath.

“No, wait, what _matters_  is what I smelled.” Rilrae continued with an exaggerated display patience. “I smelled fresh-turned dirt, and blood. Not so fresh, but it was definitely Human. Something Wolf-like too, scavengers must have been at it.”

Bao and I glanced at each other. We both felt it now, the disquiet, the silence of this place of refuge and the lack of livestock anywhere in the outbuildings.  
“You are sure of all this?” I asked softly.

“It is a pretty clever plan.” She answered in a detached, calm way. “Take over the most remote hostelry in the land and wait for a nice fat Caravan to plunder. Who would ever know they had not perished in the mountains? They could take several, choose the best loot, and then assume the identity of Traders and move on down the trail as a legitimate Caravan themselves.” She sighed and looked to the doorway. “I guess it goes without saying that a handful of travelers like us would be seen as easy pickings.”

“How would they overcome a Caravan with armed guards?” Bao attempted to be skeptical. “I know something about criminal enterprises, and larger gangs mean smaller shares for everyone.”

“Poisoned food, most likely.” I nearly threw up on the spot, and Rilrae hastened to add; “They didn’t have time for us, and vinegar has an unpredictable effect on most poisons, doesn’t it Bao?”

“I have heard that, but I don't know much about poisons.” He took up his staff in both hands. “It would happen at Breakfast, or in the baths.”

“The Baths?” We had been offered no such amenities. 

“Yes, if they have them here. If they liked our fancy clothes, they could try to strangle us while we were soaking in a hot tub.”

Before he was done speaking I had gone to free my bow from the baggage and set the string. It was not a short bow, and I looked from it to Bao’s staff and Rilrae’s spear. “I think we will stand a much better chance outside.”

Bao agreed and went to the window. Rilrae seemed confused. “What, because of your horse? Why not lay in wait right here?”

“Because our weapons are too long and clumsy to use in here.”

“And because they know we are here.” Bao added, and glanced at the walls, ceiling and doors. “Murder-holes, peepholes, they could be anywhere. Moirin?” While Rilrae stood there biting her lip, Bao and I blew out the lamps. An instant later, I summoned the Twilight. In just a few heartbeats, we went from natural light, to total darkness, to a room that was outlined in silvery luminescence.

“Ah!” Rilrae gasped. “I didn’t realize it was … so…. WOW!” It was as if she was truly seeing it from the inside for the first time. I liked the idea that there were limits to what she had observed of my life, but there was no time to savor it.

“Stay close! If you go more than a few paces from me you can be seen and heard.”

We had no need for quiet inside the Twilight, yet our voices went low and Bao silently opened the window. He squinted down at the ground below, and beckoned to Rilrae. “When you looked out before, what did it look like?”

“A trapdoor to the cellar is down there, and woodpiles to either side. See… oh, everything looks a little different like this, doesn’t it? Hard to tell the door from the wood pile.”

Bao nodded, but not to her. “Things down there that will raise a clatter if we land on them. The choice of this room was more deliberate than we had thought.” He squinted at the grounds beyond, at the limit of my Twilight. “We will have to land beyond all that, and that ground looks hard under the grass.”

“What about your things?” Rilrae asked.

“Things are just things.” I said hastily. “We can come back for them if we win out, and if we can still carry them. But, if we can’t get out without injuring ourselves-“

  
“Allow me!” Rilrae threw her spear into the ground at the edge of the Twilight. I thought she was testing the limit of my magic, but the rest of her followed her spear out the window, _head first_. I was standing right behind her, and yet I nor Bao were quick enough to halt her surprising dive. Rilrae moved, not like a Human being, but more like a Cat, or a springing Lizard. She landed on all fours, body flexing oddly as she bent with the impact. The Dragon/Sidhee scrambled around and faced us, rearing up into a crouch with her arms out wide. “Its not so hard. Throw Moirin to me, then jump, Bao.”

I would sooner have used a live Snake to lower myself down the wall, the alienness of that girl disturbed me more than ever. Bao changed my mind without intending to; “Crazy girl!” he hissed at her. “We are supposed to be minding _you_! Are you alone down there, for certain?”

Rilrae looked around herself, for the first time, and nodded.

Gods! Bao was right, this untested girl’s well-being was our responsibility. Merrin’s forbearance was one thing, but what if we did get her hurt, or killed? More likely, what if she got _herself_ into real trouble? I turned to Bao; “Tell me what to do, and give me a good push.” He had me climb up on the sill, crouching and facing him, hands braced on the ledge above. My legs were bent double, Bao’s strong hands on my shins. “Straighten your legs as soon as my hands leave you.” He said to me, and then to Rilrae; “If you break her ribs… _hey_ girl, you know what to do?”

  
Bao’s eyes did something odd, he was looking at where Rilrae was behind me, and his eyes went up and then back down. “I believe she does know! _Now_!” he pushed me backwards into the night air. It may sound strange, but if Bao could trust Rilrae to handle this properly, I had to trust him as well as her. And more importantly, I felt that time was running out.

I kicked my legs out, and much sooner than I was ready for it, I felt Rilrae wrap me in her arms. I was not near the ground yet, and the impact was soft. Rilrae had leapt into the air just before Bao had given me that shove, and was already falling back down to the ground when she caught me.

She gave me the most gentle landing possible under the circumstances, she had impressed Bao with her acrobatic ability before he had even helped me out of the window. In that regard, he saw her as an equal, professionally speaking. And yet I could not free myself of her quickly enough once her feet touched the ground. Alien, yes, and her absolute solidity made the horse I rode seem frail by comparison.

Rilrae did not seem to understand, she let me go easily enough and turned to meet Bao the same way. He had already made his own exit from the building, landing feet-first and tucking himself into a roll that absorbed the impact and brought him upright in time to catch his staff, which he had tossed into the air before leaving the window. “Nicely done.” Rilrae commented, and the echo of her voice told me I was losing my grip on the twilight. The others noticed it when the silvery light faded and only the sliver at the quarter moon gave us any light to see by.

Bao instantly assumed that Rilrae had hurt me somehow, and gave her a scathing look as he rushed to my side. “Are you alright?” has asked, not quietly.

”Yes, I’m fine! Just, she is so… different.”

There was no time to analyze my feelings, I heard movement from within the building and quickly recalled the Twilight. My hold on it was shaky and we all started backing away from that dark house, towards the stables. Thus far, I had tried to believe that going along with Rilrae’s opinion of that place was a matter of caution, and of appeasing her. This had been a far more difficult day for her than for us, truth be told. I had been hoping that we would discover that she was being overly paranoid, and that this might lead to a good talk about what motivated her, once things calmed down. It was an unpleasant thing to behold when two men burst from the door of that Inn and started jogging towards the stables. Both were armed with curved swords, and one had a lamp with a  closed shutter .

Swords, not pitchforks or axes, or any of the other weapons allowed to peasants.

We ran to intercept them and Bao was the first to reach them. He brought the first one down with a blow to the back of the head. The next bandit sensed the attack and threw his lantern at the stable, where it shattered against a timber, near straw that had been drying since the previous Autumn. He rounded on Bao in the same motion with his sword high overhead. Rilrae’s thrown spear caught him squarely in the chest. The Bandit was catapulted backwards into the stables where his body nearly smothered the fire he had just started.

My Twilight was gone again. Bao had not killed his target, he recognized Anath and caught him by one shoulder before he hit the ground. Rilrae was able to spot both fallen swords and collected them up as I grabbed Anath’s other shoulder and helped Bao drag him into the stables. Once inside, we tore his shirt down a seam and used the two halves to bind his feet and wrists.

As for Rilrae, I had assumed that this was not her first act of violence. She certainly held those swords as if she knew how to use them, in _both_  hands no less. She set them in a beam the way one would set an ax in a chopping block, and went to recover her spear. The moment she put her hands on the shaft, her victim gasped sharply, blood flying from his lips, and he eyes opened wide. His face contorted in a ghastly way and his own hands flew to the shaft of the spear, near to Rilrae’s hands.

The black-skinned girl let out a strangled shriek and jumped back, cringing and putting her hands over her mouth as she skittered away from him. It was a horrible sight, watching that man in his death-throws, struggling with the weapon that had killed him. Bao and I had seen worse in Ch’in and elsewhere. Rilrae’s reaction made me wonder how jaded Bao and I might have become to this sort of horror.

It also told me that she was a complete stranger to deadly violence. I would have been more glad of that fact, had our situation not been so dire.

“What was that?” Came the shout from the Inn. “Did you find them?”

Bao attempted to imitate Anath’s voice; “No, he dropped the damned lamp.”

“WHO dropped it?” I uncovered my quiver, it did not sound as if they believed Bao, and when he said nothing further there was more shouting.

“ _It’s them_!”

“ _Stop them before they can mount up and escape_!”

Yes, the great fear of these bandits; discovery. Should even one of us make it out and carry word to the next way-station, they would be hunted down without mercy. The path to Bhaktipur was barely passable, and how could they explain themselves there?

The stables were made of a few heavy timbers that had barely been shaped to their purpose. The rest was made of thatch roofing and wattle & daub walls which could do little to stop an arrow, as we soon found out. A pair of arrows punched their way through the walls, and after a moment two more followed. They hit nothing that lived (I think one may have finished the bandit that Rilrae had speared) but it was only a matter of time before one of us or one of our horses were hit. The horses were already upset by the smell of blood, and the corpse of that bandit had failed to extinguish the fire completely. Soon they could panic even if they were not hit. If they broke out of the stables there was no telling what they would do in the semi-darkness, and we would be driven outside into the plain sight of the Bandits.

Acting on hunch and inspiration, I sent one arrow into the room we had stayed so briefly. A scream rewarded my effort, and at the same time Bao called Rilrae to him. She went, foolishly crossing in front of the small fire, in full view of the remaining archer. Bao’s staff must have been guided by Maghuin Dhonn herself, or the most perfect intuition. The bamboo caught the arrow that came sailing out of the darkness, dead center. Poor Rilrae Froze in place, staring at the arrow that had nearly pierced her. “Look down the arrow, girl! Tell Moirin where came from!”

For a mercy, Rilrae did as he told her. “Second window right from the door, first floor.” She did not have the wit to leave her exposed position, so I fired quickly, and then another through the wall of the Inn. The second one told, there came a clatter of man and bow hitting the floor, and there were no more arrows coming at us.

“ _Go , get them_!” More shouts and an angry mob burst from the Inn, determined to stop us or die trying. Bhodistan must have severe punishments for their crimes, I thought absently, my next shot killed the leader, the big man with the graying beard, yet the rest never slowed their charge.

Bao stood in the doorway to meet them, and shielding Rilrae. I had only 3 arrows left, and I shouted at Rilrae; “Help him!” I saw her moving groggily out of the corner of my eye, and gave her no more thought for several heartbeats. I was able to kill two men and wounded another who had raised his weapon, putting his arm between my arrow and his heart. That one and two more uninjured men were left for Bao, not such a horde after all, once they were close enough to seen properly. All were armed with swords again, the kind I would come to know as _Talwar._  Bao worked carefully at putting one down at a time while leaping about to avoid the others.

“ _Help him_!” I demanded of Rilrae again as I unstrung my bow so that I could use it as a staff. Something fell behind me, and I leapt to one side and turned… to see Anath sprawled on the ground and Rilrae standing over him with a Talwar in each hand. She looked at him as if she didn’t understand what she was looking at, but I took it all in at a glance. While we were distracted, Anath had awaken and freed himself of our hasty bonds. Rilrae had retrieved her swords and saw him coming up coming up behind me with a dagger, just in time. The wounds she had inflicted in him were so deep that it made me glad that her blows had not cleaved through him completely, and into my back.

“Rilrae!” She did not look well, and she reacted to my call to her as if I was chastising her. I certainly didn’t mean to do that, she looked stunned and bewildered, and shook herself before I could reach her.

“Oh... help Bao, right!” She dropped the bloody swords and dashed towards the doorway. What good she could have done unarmed was a moot point, Bao had finished off his opponents before she could reach him. They practically collided in the doorway, Bao catching her in his arms as he took in the scene before him. He understood what he saw well enough to look to Rilrae instead of asking if I was alright. She looked anything but alright, and clutched at his shoulder while muttering “Help Bao…”

“Are more of them out there, somewhere?” I had to ask.

“I will have to check the Inn to be sure, and now…” He tore his gaze from Rilrae’s face and looked to me.

What drew my attention next was our horses, who were very upset and kicking at the walls now. They could easily put a hoof through the flimsy slats of wood and clay, but that would only lead them to harming themselves on the heavy beams meant to prevent their escape.

“Go! And take Rilrae with you, I have to calm the horses and get them out of here!” Bao understood that I could do this better alone. Rilrae’s hand was still clinging to him when he turned to go, so I added; “Go, help Bao, go with him Rilrae!” A little light returned to her eyes, and she nodded.

The situation with the horses was incredibly delicate. The fire was the very thing that was driving them mad, but the only way out of the stables was right past the fire. Were I the sort of Hero Rilrae seemed to think of me as, I could have used my supernatural powers to lead the panicked horses past the fire and out into the night air, just before the whole thing collapsed in a shower of sparks and orange flame. I was not even tempted to try. The light of the fire showed me where the water was, and a bucket as well. Three splashes of water put the fire out before it could spread terribly far… and also plunged the stables into total darkness.

The horses were not mollified, they could still smell the smoke and not being able to see anything did not convince them that there was no more fire.  
Oh, how I wished that I had some special power over animals. as I do with plants. on that night.

I do not, but in the rush of the moment, even Bao had assumed that I did. What did I have, really? Only the sense that a girl raised in the countryside had learned at my Mother’s side. The memory of her guided my mind to a song she had sung to me, a lullaby that had always soothed me. I sang it then, moving among the gates to the stables by feel, hoping my voice would reach them;

 _O 's geàrr an ùine gu'n teirig latha_   (It is only a short time until the close of day)  
_Thig an oidhche 's gun iarr mi tàmh_    (Night will come and I will want for rest)  
_Mo chadal buan-sa bidh e cho suaimhneach_ (My eternal sleep will be so peaceful)  
_Mo bhios mo chluasag 's an Innis Àigh_ (If I lay my head in the Happy Isle)

 

Those _words_ , what a melancholy the final verse struck in me! In the pitch dark I could see my Mother, and Oengus, and others passing through my field of vision… fields of the greenest Green on the whole wide world. Toying with the notion of staying in Bhaktipur had been a dream, a brief one that I would have had to leave behind eventually. Home! Aye, I knew where I belonged, and I would never stop traveling until I could return there. Not just for my own sake, but because they had to know, I had to tell my people what had happened and what I had seen; to help them understand what the wider world truly is. The beauty, the perils, the strangeness, I thought that even my mother would enjoy hearing of how vast it all truly was, and be able to learn from it.

Aye, and mostly, I just wanted to be back in a familiar place, where the plants and animals were all known to me, and I could lay down on ground that was familiar… and truly rest.

The horses seemed to understand, I felt a soft muzzle bump my shoulder softly in the darkness. While I had been lost in thought, my little song and the silence that followed had calmed them. What a blessing, I wasn’t even sure what part of this dark building my feet had taken me to. Here I was, wool-gathering about Alba when I was supposed to be tending frightened horses in a damaged stable, surrounded by dead bandits in an alpine meadow above Bhodistan!

I laughed, mostly at myself, and hugged the head of the horse that was gently prodding me. When all is said and done, I am a simple back-country girl of the Maghuin Dhonn. These were my thoughts as Bao and Rilrae returned with our baggage, and lamps to guide us out of that place.


	6. Chapter 6

**7**

 

 

We left nothing behind but Rilrae’s spear. She had refused to go near it and Bao was unable to pull it lose from the wooden pillar it was embedded in. As a substitute Bao took two of the Talwar and packed them away where Rilrae would not be able to spot them easily. I pretended not to notice he’d done that, but I made note of it and decided to ask him why later on.

There was no question of sleeping in that place, none of us wasted any time getting ourselves out of there. The horses made no complaint, our journey had scarce begun and they had been well-rested in Bhaktipur. On we went, through the rest of that night and most of the next day. Rilrae was silent, damnably so at a time when I really _wanted_ to talk to her.

Bao had touched her when he had helped the girl mount up, and he had felt what I had felt, as well as something else. “She is trembling, still. I think I know what she is doing; reliving those moments and working it out. It may be best to let her be for a while.”

 

Days later she was still not talking. Every other night, on average, we found a place built to accommodate travelers and caravans. Other nights we camped out in places that had been used for camping over many years, flat fields with good water. At the first place where we found people we reported what had befallen us at the first rest-stop. There was hushed talk of “Thuggee” and skeptical questions as to how the three of us could have could have overcome ten armed men. Things were clarified when we spoke of how they were armed, we were told that they must have been deserters from the Army, men that had gone missing months before. Soldiers sometimes turned bandit when their pay was missing, or in this case after they had disgraced themselves. We moved on before a patrol could be summoned and we also avoided the Keep of the local Lord. We wanted neither recognition nor the questions that would follow, and we certainly had no need of any reward.

In a very few days we were out of the highlands, abruptly entering a much warmer land. Bao decided to lighten our load and ventured to sell our heaviest coats and an insulated tent that we had rarely used, and found customers in the first caravan we met coming the other way. He had Rilrae carry the tent, which she did as docile as a good Mule and even more quietly. I stayed with the horses while Bao entered the encampment, made his sale and directed purchaser to give the coin to Rilrae. They walked back to me with that girl holding the coins in her hand, looking at them from time to time. She tried to hand them off to me, and I refused. “Our supply of Bhodistan coinage is limited, you should take that for safe keeping.”

Rilrae shrugged in her annoyingly vague way an muttered “So useless…” and shoved her hand into her pocket.

One look at Bao told me he felt the same way I did; we’d both had enough of this and it was high time to bring her out of it.

“Crazy Girl, are you a Baby?” That was a little more rough and direct that I would liked, but at least Bao said it evenly, with a cool voice and a neutral face.

She looked up at him dumbly, without a hint of rancor as she considered his question.

Her reaction gave me an idea. “Your parents mentioned how long-lived they are, and you seem similar. How long has it been since you …. grew into physical maturity?”

“oh, that.” She sighed and closed her eyes. “Last year… well, I started ‘getting twitchy’ the year before that. I stopped growing physically between then and now.” She shook her head. “Baby? If you knew some of the urges I have been dealing with…”

So, a teenage girl, just as she appeared to be, less mature than I was when I left Alba perhaps, which was hardly mature at all. “Oh, I think I could understand what you are talking about more easily than you think.” Her head turned towards the ground, and I chucked her gently under the chin to make her look up at me again. “We could, _if_  you were talking to us at all.”

She nearly did say something then, and stopped herself  
.  
Bao had more to say; “You are _not_ useless. The day we met, you saved us from being murdered in our sleep.”

“Oh, I think you would have noticed something if I hadn’t been such a distraction to you.”

She may have been right about that.

“Rilrae, you also saved my life that night.” I put my hand on her shoulder, and thanked Naamah that familiarity was starting to make the feel of her less disagreeable. She still felt odd, yet after spending a few nights huddled for warmth in that little tent I had come to appreciate something else about her; in coldest part of the night she gave off so much heat it was similar to resting on a warm hearth, even with two layers of fur separating us.

She sighed again. “All I did was kill that guy you wanted to keep as a captive. I made such a mess of him…” She started to shake, remembering.

Bao stepped up and put his hand on her other shoulder. “You saved Moirin’s life, I thought that would mean something to you, Rae.” He used the shorter form of her name, the use of more than one “r” sound in one word was not easy for him. “You did a very difficult thing, VERY difficult after what you had seen what your spear did to that other man, yes?” She flinched so hard that we nearly lost our grip on her.

“NO! Don’t back away from that, we have been watching you do that for long enough.” I wanted to hug her, she looked so small and miserable. “You were horrified, and yet you armed yourself and made yourself do something that was necessary. You made yourself a good companion to your…” I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at this point, “… heroes.”

Bao made a face at me. “We can’t be calling ourselves _that_.”

“Certainly not, and after that Patriarch's attitude, I will be very happy to be forgotten by this world.” I was shaking myself, just a little. Riva had taught me how the difference between fame and infamy can be a matter of opinion, in the eyes of many.

“I wish you would forget him.” It was Rilrae that said that, before Bao could. “ _Taras wept_ , isn’t that what they say, Bao? By the time my parents get done with that Priest, he will be wishing your arrow _had_ killed him.” She bit her lip, eyes flickering back and forth between us. “Thanks for the thoughts, but I don’t feel like a worthy companion to anyone right now. Your lives are dangerous, that’s one thing that makes you so interesting. But, I don’t want to be another damned Alexi for you, and I sure don’t want to be useless … you are both so ready for trouble all the time-“ I didn’t exactly laugh in her face, it was more of a giggle. “What?”

“Don’t you remember? I nearly took a crossbow bolt to my head the first time I faced real violence. Those two Bandits that tried to hold up my Stagecoach, I was far from expert in my approach to that situation.”

“Huh? Was that before you arrived at the Palace? I’m sorry, but that was when you caught my attention. I didn’t SEE anything of your life prior to that.”

“For that, I am profoundly grateful.” I must have been smiling then, because Rilrae smiled at me, biting her lower lip cutely.

Bao was moved as well. That fight had been a bad experience for all of us, but for Rilrae it was more than that. Somehow, a dehumanizing experience had made her so much more Human to us. “You were much more help to us than most people would have been, more so than I would have been before I began my training.”

“Oh _stop_! I can’t imagine you were ever clumsy, in any way!”

Another look passed between Bao and myself, and soon all three of us were laughing. I didn’t recall putting my other arm around Bao, but there it was, and his was around me as well. My husband had more to say; “Rae, it may be tempting a terrible fate by saying so, but I fear you have an exaggerated opinion of us, and too low of one about yourself. I also think you have some potential to learn more than your esteemed parents have sent you to us for. Yes… I shall start teaching you to be a proper acrobat. We will start before sitting down to supper tonight.”

Rilrae had looked as if she was ready to argue with him, until Bao told her that he would be training her. _Told_ her, making a statement of it and leaving no room for argument.

“I hear and obey.” She said, with a smile. Something happened with her eyes just then, and I was a little hard-pressed to keep my own smile in place. I had thought that her eyes were odd, and they were, just not in a way I could place until just then. In daylight the pupils were small, and I thought my own eyes were tricking me when they appeared to be angular, diamond-shaped. Now those pupils started to dilate, in happiness. It was a reaction I was familiar with, but I had never seen eyes with pupils that expanded in to _vertical_ slits.

Not in anyone that looked so human, I mean to say.

 

The next day, I noticed the traces of a trail leading off the one we were on, in a peculiar place. Tracks led to a small ridge that I instinctively knew had nothing to offer in the way of graze or water. We were among trees, real forests that were more like what I had left behind in Alba than anything else I had yet seen. It was a dry forest, but still a forest with towering trees alive with Birds and other fauna. These great trees had been blocking our view, and inspiration made me leave the road we were on and follow the traces of occasional travel on this new trail. Rilrae followed without asking what I was doing, and so did Bao.

The ground on the other side of the ridge was too steep for trees to grow on, and the vista before us was breathtaking. Bhodistan lay at our feet.

We were not especially high up compared to the mountains we had just left, two more days and we would be in the lowlands. Nevertheless, the bowl-shaped region before us showed us much of what lay ahead. The forested land ended as soon as the landscape leveled out, giving way to a vast network of cultivated fields, roads, and towns & cities. I had never seen an entire landscape so completely re-worked by the hand of man. Every acre had been organized in one way or another, and there were a few buildings or monuments that were so large that they could be seen from miles away. Villages, towns, and several large and angular outlines of cities.

I had never thought that I would be in a place, still with both feet on the ground, where I would be able to see more than one city. Here, I could count three, and possibly another on the far horizon.

Bao was as awed as I was. “Moirin, will you be alright with this?”

In Ch’in I had learned to face teaming hordes of people, but there was always open space just around the bend of the river or down the road. This would be different, and endless sea of people, and this one we were in the verges of was the last forest in sight.

“I think so, but remind me of the Sea of Grass if I ever look as if I am having any difficulties, or any lack of appreciation for the benefits of civilization. I have time to adapt… what, _don’t_ we?”

I asked that last question of Rilrae, she had closed her eyes when I said ’time’ and was concentrating on something within her own mind.

“No, we don’t!” She said after a moment, opening her eyes and looking back and forth at Bao and I. “We have a month, maybe a little more, before the monsoon starts.”

  
“Monsoon?” This was a new word to me.

Bao smacked his saddle with an open hand. “Yes! I remember now, it is going to start raining, just as Summer is becoming so hot you can’t stand it. Traders in Shuintan spoke of it as the time to avoid Bhodistan.”

“Because of _rain_?” I asked, bemused. In Alba, one gets used to the rain. If it was going to be so hot, then it would be a blessing… or so I thought.

“Yes, rain.” Rilrae seemed even more worried about it than Bao. “Jawa has lots of people like this place, that is what made me think of it. And if this monsoon is anything like that one is…. yes, Bao, you heard of it too? Moirin, one day soon, is is going to start raining, and it is not going to stop for four months.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“Yeah, I’m serious, and I don’t see any paved roads down there. We had better be on a riverboat headed for Galanka by then, don’t you think?”

 

The night before, Bao’s instruction for Rilrae had consisted of lecture and some basic tests of her balance & strength, plus a few stretching exercises. This evening, he would have her doing more serious exercises. Bao dressed down to a simple loincloth and thin-soled sandals. Rilrae dressed in something that would be scandalous had there been anyone in the little forest camp to see it. One single T-shaped piece of cloth was all there was to it. She tied the upper part of the T around her breasts and pulled the long end down between her legs and up to tie it up just under her cleavage. It certainly made Bao blink, and the view it gave of her musculature made me worry for Bao’s safety. She had the inborn strength of a Dragon, something I had become painfully familiar with. What sort of girl would seek to add to that? What had driven her to become so lean and powerful when there was no earthly need for it?

Bao was wary as well, and after they started with warm-up stretches they did things that did not require any contact, such as flips and rolls. They even had some fun walking around on their hands while I tended a pot of rice. Bao tested Rilrae by having her touch her head to the ground a few times and then hold herself upside down, legs straight and toes pointed at the sky.

“Alright, now drop and roll to your feet, then jump straight up as high as you can.”

Rilrae took this to be a test of strength and botched it badly, launching herself head-first into a nearby tree and tumbling to the ground in a barley conscious state. We both rushed to her side and found her shaken, with a rueful grin parting her lips. “Let me guess; that was a test of _balance_ , yes?”

“Yes.” Bao said while I checker her for injuries. “It was also a test of how eager you might be to show off for us.” Aside from a few scrapes, she seemed to be alright. “Does hard-headedness run in your family?”

Rilrae rolled her eyes at him. “Both more, and less, that you might imagine. Oh stop fussing, I want to keep going with this!” Now it was Rilrae who flinched away from contact with _me_. “I won’t be able to do this again until we can rent a room big and private enough for this, down there in civilized lands, right? So come on Bao, wear me out a little.”

She had been spending more time walking than riding, and Rilrae always carried the heaviest loads or tried to do more work. I understood now, she wasn’t showing off or being subservient. She was trying to maintain her muscle tone.

Again, I had to wonder why.

There was no time to ask, Rilrae went straight back to training with Bao and attempted no more feats of strength. She was doing no-hands cartwheels forwards and backwards by the time they were done, and Bao complimented her on her concentration. He then took up his staff, which she flinched away from. Bao shook his head and held it out to her, so she could take it in her own hands. I could see that she understood the honor he was doing her, very few people had been allowed to hold that staff … as she must have known from her observations.

Rilrae accepted it gingerly, running her fingertips over the wood, and then peering closely at it. I did not know what she was doing until she looked over at me, and said “Good job, I can’t tell where it was broken.”

I sat back on my heels next to the fire, and sighed. “You saw that, _too_?”

“Well, yes, me and about 10,000 other people.”

Bao snatched the staff back so swiftly that Rilrae had no chance of holding on to it. He gave her a grim look, and after a moment he asked; “I don’t suppose you think much of me, leaving like that, do you?”

Rilrae looked surprised. “No, I understood… somewhat. But that isn’t what you are upset about, is it?”

The food was ready but I was not about to let it interrupt something this important. I banked the fire and stood up. “You can understand how unnerving it is, can’t you? You know so much about us and we know so very little about you. It is not just the intimacy with which you know us, it is that you came uninvited into our very lives!”

She looked lost, again. Hands out wide, she asked; “What can I do to make it up to you? I never thought we would actually meet, so … I just don’t know what to do.”

“Two things.” Bao promptly answered her. “One, now that you are speaking again, we expect you to become more talkative, and tell us about yourself, your life and your peculiar family. As for the second thing;” He walked over to the pile of things we had removed from the packhorse and pulled out the pair of Talwar that he had salvaged.

Rilrae cursed when she saw them and took a step back. “I think I’d better not… isn’t it better to avoid fighting?”

“It is wise to see it that way, yet you should also know that valor is the better part of discretion. We will not allow you to shrink into cowardice because you now know what fighting and killing truly is. Moirin and I are charged with defending you, it would help us considerably if you were somewhat capable of looking out for yourself.”

“Oh, _somewhat_?” Sarcasm was creeping back into her voice. “Alright, alright … I will try, I will carry them when you like. But in return, could you stop looking at me as if I have stolen something from you whenever you think of how I have been watching you?”

I had not thought she was so sensitive. “I will do my best.” I told her. “As Bao said, you need to tell us about yourself, In time, that will make it easier, methinks.”

She nodded and looked down at the swords as she accepted them. “That, and fight with these again.”

Bao laughed. “I do not want you to fight with them any time soon. I want you to dance with them.”

I was non-plussed, what was Bao talking about now? Rilrae was surprised for another reason; “How did you know…?”

He simply smiled and stepped back away from her. “Have you forgotten what you have ‘observed’ about my background? I have seen many sword-dancers in my youth, and I have seen how you move. The daughter of the Phaing that slew Taras must have been trained well, and part of that training would include what people could call a dance, yes?”

“I … yes, you could call it that.”

“Very well. The two of us have provided you considerable entertainment over the years. It is now your turn to entertain _us_ for a change.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Huh... 2 chapters in one week, or does this make 3?  
> I don't know if this means the magic is back, but the Fun sure is!

**8**

 

 

It is still difficult for me to describe what Rilrae’s dance was like. She was a blur part of the time, and an exotic bit of living art at other times. When it was done we all sat down to eat, and I still I could hardly take my eyes off her. She had hardly broken a sweat under Bao’s instructions, yet after 5 minutes of being free to do her ‘dance’ she was covered with perspiration and shining like a polished statue carved from obsidian. The leaps, the pirouettes and the mid-air spins had be a beautiful thing to behold, but the way she had kept the swords twirling had made me gasp more than once, and Bao noticed.

“Are you wishing your idiot-friend Raphael was here?” he asked, with a darkly sarcastic look in his eye.

“I will strangle you with your own hair if you mention him again! And I could, now.”

Bao reached over and flipped my dark locks, which barely reached my shoulder blades. “You’d have to-“

“Why aren’t you worried?” I nodded at Rilrae, whom I had been unable to look away from for more than a heartbeat. To my eyes, she should have cut herself already, and how she avoided a sprain was another mystery. “What do yo know that I do not?”

“I have seen such acts before…” Bao took a deep breath as Rilrae skipped about, pretending to chop at her own feet and moving them out of the way just in time. “….  
although I must admit, she is rather daring.”

She finished up by grounding both blades and turning a somersault that landed her in front of us, sitting with her legs crossed and facing us from 2 paces away. Panting and smiling, she simply asked “You like that?”

I liked it well enough to get up and serve her dinner, waving her back down when she started to get up. "No, you rest now, you earned it." As I said, it was difficult to look away from her, I needed a reason to do so, that I might collect my thoughts.

Bao was looking her up and down, I could not help noticing. Were we to be tempted to indulge in this unique girl so soon after we had been married? I could practically feel the Bright Lady wink over my shoulder. I needn’t have given it a second thought, Bao was speaking in a businesslike manner before I had the rice ladled out.  
“That was very well done Rae, your talent may come in useful for us later on.”

“You mean, like, instead of fighting?”

“That would certainly be one good reason. How do you feel about that?” I _did_ look when he said that, was he was aiming at some concession from her, a promise perhaps?

“Whatever you say. I’m just glad you liked it.”

Bao reached over and pulled a strand of hair out of her face. He then looked at his fingertips and showed them to her, and to me. They were smeared with a little of the black dye in her hair. Soon, it would be time to tend to her disguise again. “Are you aware of how desirable you made yourself look, to me, and to Moirin?”

I nearly dropped the platter I was filling, and cursed him under my breath. ‘Bad Boy’ indeed!

Rilrae blinked, and smiled broadly. In the falling light of Sunset, her teeth and the whites of her eyes stood out on her shiny black face. “Honestly? You too, Moirin?”  
She looked thrilled.

I knelt between Bao and Rilrae with the platter, a stew of sausage and mild peppers topping off the simple rice dish. We had three small metal plates and simply slid the plates into the platter to take a portion, and ate with our fingers. I did nothing with my plate for a long moment, staring at Rilrae’s pleased expression. She was happy, with _my_  attraction to her? 

“What happened to ‘ _EWWW_ ’?”

Rilrae gulped and looked at me with wide eyes, understanding what I meant instantly. She didn’t even glance at Bao and answered me with a soft tone. “Oh, no no no, I wasn’t being offended by the girl-girl thing!” And without looking at him, she said in a different tone. “Please don’t interrupt me Bao.” I think I saw a smile in her eyes, but it only lasted a second. “I don’t like dead things, its… well, its _my_ problem. But the very idea of being visited by one of the craven dead in my dreams-“

  
“How DARE you!” _Craven_ dead, Jehanne?!

She flinched, just a little, as my anger made my words a shout. “I don’t mean Her, or _just_ her! Moirin, please, its something about our spirits, our bodies of light… souls should move on. If they don’t, a frightening amount of the time it is because of something sneaky and mean. That’s why everyone has an instinctive fear of Ghosts. Well, _almost_ everyone... and alright, maybe I have her wrong, but… that’s why I reacted that way. Sorry…”

“Ah, well, its not as if Queen Jehanne could ever have been accused of being mean, or sneaky.” Bao paid for that remark, by spending the next few minutes picking out the gravel that I threw at his plate. What had gotten into him?

I was more infuriated with Rilrae, she had cast a dark shadow over a situation that was already fraught with doubts and fears on my part. “What other reasons for a …. visitation…. could there be, oh learned one?” My sarcastic tone made her wince, but she did not stop trying to explain herself. 

“Please, like I said, its a weird fear of mine. I wouldn’t even be able to eat this meat if I hadn’t seen those traders you got it from kill the Goat just this morning. No, you want to know what else could it be for her? Theoretically, lots of things; a curse on her, an obligation, a lack of certainty about where her next destination really is, or, her attachment for those she left behind. If it is the later, its not good for her. The longer she stays, the harder moving on becomes.”

“Stop!” Head low and eyes shut tight, I couldn’t bear to hear more and tried to shut her out. Gods! If what she was saying was true, Jehanne had either become some sort of fallen spirit, or she was doing herself harm by trying to reach me. The most chilling thought was that I didn’t know which might be true.

Bao gave up on his plate and dumped it all out. He came to my rescue by asking; “What do you mean, ‘theoretically’?”

“Can’t really know for sure, I’m telling you what other people have taught me. Hard information is difficult to come by. The barrier between here and there is a firm one, as you know. But the people I talked to seemed pretty sure of what they were talking about…”

I felt like a pack-horse that had just been unloaded. Words like ‘pretty sure’ and ‘other people’ reduced her words to something I could ignore, or think about objectively. However, she didn’t stop talking.

“… I have only seen that other world myself that one time, when I was watching you, Bao.”

It was his turn to flinch, his voice had a slight tremor as he asked; “You saw _that_?” She nodded. “That … is …. a mighty gift you have … Rilrrray.” His eyes went to mine, we were both staggered by what she had revealed to us. 

“ _Had_.” She reminded us, gritting her teeth. “I can’t see anything NOW but what these silly little eyeballs show me, damn it ALL!” She took a deep breath, we all did, and then shook her head. “Yes, I know I did something terrible with my gifts, I’ve known it since I speared that man. But it was good that I saw what I did, Bao, or I would have hated you for leaving Moirin.”

I thought I knew what she meant by that. So did Bao; his life had been judged exceptionally meritorious by the Celestial ones, and he would be spared the long and difficult path to a good & pure Heaven.

“What did it look like, to you?” he asked carefully. Bao's own memory of that event had become dim. What was seen in one world was not something that could be clearly recalled or understood in another... or so we thought.

“It wasn’t a look, it was more like _feeling_ it. I could feel that you weren’t worried about the living, that the life you left behind wasn’t bothering you. And that was a revelation for me, it was fascinating, but also logical. I mean to say… it wouldn’t be paradise if we were always pining away over those still living, who were mourning us, or those we left in a difficult situation because we weren’t there anymore.”

Bao looked as if he could have been blown over by a little wind. I felt the same way.

“ _That_ ’s why you fled, isn’t it?” Rilrae continued in a voice so soft that it barely sounded like her anymore. “You couldn’t forgive yourself for losing your worries about Moirin, standing there at Heaven’s threshold. There was nothing wrong, Bao, _you_ didn't set aside how you feel about her,  it was _taken_ from you, you didn’t neglect anything…. oh my gods,  you _don't_ remember at all …”

She may have said more than that, I don’t know. I was on my feet, as was Bao, reaching for him as he reached for me. There was no shadow about my twice-born husband, nothing coming between us. Before I knew it, there was no clothing either. I think Bao carried me under the lean-to, I don’t know for certain. We came together in a spontaneous and joyfully fresh way that we had not since our days on the Greatship. It was not forgiveness nor even the willingness to be forgiven, it was a new understanding. Old hurts were not simply healed, they were eliminated as if they had never been. Perfect intimacy, without the reservations that had crept into our lives without us even knowing they were there.

Ah, and we were both very physical in our expression of this new state of being. We thanked each other for every new peak with open eyes and fond caresses. With Bao’s help, I was able to fold myself double, with my legs behind my shoulders and arms out wide to steady myself as Bao aggressively took advantage of my vulnerability in every way he could. Before I passed out from the joy of it all, we both looked down my body to where his phallus plunged into my upraised sex. He had never felt so large and so hard inside me. Cheek to cheek, we gasped and shuddered to a climax that made me feel as if the world itself had lost it’s grip on me.

 

When I awoke, it was still night, and the camp was still bathed in the glow of a moon waxing towards fullness… as was I in all ways but one. I was famished, all but a few mouthfuls of our dinner had gone uneaten. As I opened my eyes Bao was just settling in next to me, he had gone out while I was unconscious and returned with a full plate at just the right time. He explained as I fed myself in a way that would have earned me sidelong looks even in a Tatar encampment.

“She ate, and then put what was left back in the pot for us. Rilrrae is out there now, she made another fire, and set torches out in the forest as if she is guarding an army camp! The silly girl said she would stand watch while we ‘had fun’, she is out there somewhere in the trees now.” He sighed, eyes scanning the patch of open ground near us. “She really had no idea what she was telling us.”

“Bao… by all that there is … I had no idea!” I finished with my food and cupped his face in my hands, as he had done with me so often. “YOU had no idea, you forgot! What a year we have had… I’d say we have earned your second life-“ I’d had nothing to drink with the food I had just wolfed down, and a hiccup spoiled the moment, somewhat.

  
Bao reached around behind him and handed me a water-skin. “I never had a chance to thank Master Lo-Feng. I thank you now, Moirin. Forever, I love you.” I fell into his arms again, without a care in the world or a second thought for Rilrae.

I knew she was still out there, in the back of my mind I understood that she was having a less joyful night than we were. My gratitude would come later. At the time, all the thought I gave her was the knowledge that she and we were alone in this valley, and so she was unlikely to get into any trouble out there.

There was also the strap missing from my thigh, Kamadeva’s Diamond was laying somewhere nearby, or just outside the lean-to. There was no reason to worry about that either; not with Rilrae’s aversion to ‘dead things’.

Bao and I fell back into our mutual delirium, and somewhere along the way we managed to get some sleep that night.


	8. Chapter 8

9

 

 

 

In the morning, Rilrae greeted us without a trace of shyness or averted eyes, openly happy for us. She must have heard us, and she might have seen a few things as well, considering how the lean-to had been set up. The only verbal reference she made to our love-making was to inquire if I would like a blanket folded over my saddle, for extra padding. I did, but I hugged her first, and while I did I realized something that should have dawned on me earlier;  
Rilrae, and her parents, were the first non d’Angeline folk I had ever met that were dedicated to Elua.

I thought about that while Bao hugged her in turn, and kissed her forehead. He appreciated her discretion more than I did. “Are you feeling up to another day of travel?”

“Bah!” She waved her hand casually. “I am Dragon-blooded, I can go without rest for longer than you could imagine.”

Two hours later, she was dozing in the saddle.

Bao and I dearly wished to continue our conversation with her, unfortunately Rilrae had not been sleeping well since the fight at the Inn, She had needlessly stayed up all night to serve as guardian over us while the two of us writhed in passion’s embrace, barely sparing her a thought. The road in the lowlands was wide enough for us to ride on either side of her, and we held her steady for most of that day. In the evening we found another Inn, and she went straight to bed. Of all the things I could have asked her, this is what I said; “You were very considerate last night, the way you took care of everything, and you even had breakfast ready for us. Thank you.”

Rilrae’s head hit the pillow with a thud, and her eyes were already closing. “Everyone likes you, and you are always so helpful. I thought… two must go together, yes?” She yawned. “Sorry. Mmm… when you two came together like that, didn’t know what else to do.”

“So, you never watched us when we were … intimate?” I might have had to clarify that with anyone else, but Rilrae knew that I was talking about her mental spying.

“Only the first time, and with Snow Tiger,” another yawn, “I thought she might kill you, horribly!” She opened her eyes and looked at me directly. “Why did you _do_  that?”

I needed a moment to think about that. Her eyes closed again, I don’t know if she was still awake when I finally had an answer; “Being helpful is not always a simple thing.”

 

Rilrae was bright and chipper the next day, her insomnia seemed to be over with, and she was willing to talk. _How_ we were to talk became something worthy of an argument, and we wasted a considerable amount of time with that argument. Rilrae wanted to polish her understanding of the Bhodistani tongue. I thought that foolish, considering the nature of what we were going to be talking about. If we were overheard saying the wrong thing, our days in this land could become far more eventful that I would have liked, and perhaps dangerous to us all. Bao, for once, was having trouble making up his mind one way or another. He could see both sides of the issue.  
“Speaking d’Angeline would only mark us as foreigners to all within earshot.”

“Unless we are shouting, they will see that clearly once they are close enough to hear us.” I answered logically, if sharply.

“True enough.” Rilrae sighed, and looked down at herself. Not to Bao or I, her fellow foreigners, but at her black hands. “And I am _not_  going to shroud myself, like the women of Akkad have to. I don’t mind the heat so much, but if it is as bad as they say hereabouts…”

Bao eventually ended the argument with a compromise; “We will speak Bhodistani when none can overhear us, and d’Angeline when they can.” he said assertively, and Rilrae rolled her eyes. If the land was as crowded as it looked, there would be slim chance of not being surrounded by potential eaves-droppers.

I sensed that we were leaving the forest behind, so I wanted to waste no time. What she had said about Jehanne and the Spirits in general had upset me, and filled me with doubts about what had really been happening in my dreams. I did not know how to ask Rilrae about it without being emotional about the subject. Being cooly rational worked best with this girl, so I wanted to keep things that way, all ‘round. Whenever I thought I needed to remind myself that she wasn’t human, all i had to do was recall her confrontation with her mother. The last thing we wanted to do was anger her. If we did, I hoped that Bao and I could defend us or evade her, but I did not think that we could put her down as efficiently as Sushulana had done.

Bao’s thoughts were walking the same path as mine, and he asked; “Why have you honed your body to such a fine state? I ask because it is curious in your case. Being part Dragon, I would think that muscles like those would be superfluous, and the effort to build yourself up must be considerable… do you lead an especially active or hard life on Velikaluria?”

He’d had to string his question out, Rilrae made a thoughtful face and was silent for a long moment. She was having trouble formulating a good answer. “I wanted to change myself, or something like that. Compensating, I guess… for these silly things.” She put a hand under her breasts. “And… making up for not being able to do simple illusions that would make me look different, or…”

“What words are you looking for?” I asked in d’Angeline, thinking she had trouble with Bhodistani.

She shook her head. “Its not that. Is not that I don’t like myself, either, people have already asked me about that, too many times! Everyone in my family can change their shape, go back and forth between something like human and to Dragon, my sister can become just about anything she wants to. But not me! I can’t initiate a mind-link with them either, not at all… unless they are dreaming.” She sighed, and glanced around. “So, I can’t even do that, I see them having silent conversations all the time, but as soon as I show up they all smile and start talking out loud as if they were going to do that all along.” She was grinding her teeth between words. “You looked at me as if I am some kind of freak when you first saw me, now you know why I’m used to it, eh?”

“Stop right there.” Bao held up his hand. The tension was broken a bit when all three of our horses came to a sudden halt, as if he had been talking to them instead of Rilrae. I nearly burst out laughing when the two of them looked at me.

“It wasn’t me!” I protested, and Bao grinned, but Rilrae did not look ready to laugh. We got our mounts moving again before the packhorse stumbled into us, and I asked; “You can send your thoughts back and forth while dreaming, yes?” A nod, and then a sharp look to remind me that it had been taken from her. “Alright, you _could_ , and from the sound of it you will again once your Father is less angry with you, or you unlock it somehow. To me, dream-speaking sounds like a very rare and special talent, yes?”

She snorted. “It’s unheard of! They can’t help me master it, nobody has ever met anyone that can _do_ that. Not even my Father, he’s thousands of years old and has been to hundreds of worlds and he can’t even tell me anything about what this thing of mine is or how it works… what?”

Bao and I were staring at her, again, but this time it was because of what she had said.

“ _Thousands_?” Bao whispered. Master Lo-Feng had seemed fabulously old, at little more than a century and a half. Sushulana had stated her age as if it were nothing but a footnote in her background. 

“Hundreds… of _worlds_?” These revelations were not making it any easier to deal with Rilrae. No, it wasn’t her, it was her parents, her strange family, and their incredible history. Elua himself had judged them too other-worldly to live openly in Terre d’Ange, and I had to agree. I also had to steer this conversation back to Rilrae herself, and things that we could understand. “And they chose this world to settle down on? That’s … encouraging.” I smiled at Bao, and he smiled back at me. “This island of yours sounds wonderful, but I’m not so sure that I could get used to a place where clothing is such a hinderance.”

Rilrae did her best to answer my smile. “Less than a _necessity_ , I should have said, and that isn’t the only thing. In many places, shelter is only needed if it is dark and raining. Food is easy to come by, also. Life itself takes very little effort… mayhap we could set up a colony for philosophers there someday.”

Aye, and mayhap, it was exactly the wrong environment for a young adult with an excess of energy. “Do many people live there with you?”

“Oh, I don’t _live_ there. I live on Hope most of the time, I have since I was born.” She bit her lip when she saw the looks we gave her when she said that. “That is the name of the island we used to just call 'South', and 'North' is called Faith now. The family home is there… my older Brother and Sister were fully grown by the time I was born. I don’t get along so well with my twin brother, not anymore. He is his father’s perfect son, and I fail to be my mother’s good little daughter…. no!” She steered her horse away when I reached out to her, a reflex I wished I could control. “It’s _true_ , you heard what she said to me!”

“What, you mean after you attacked her?”

“Yeah, after she hit _me_.” Bao made a disgusted sound and let his horse carry him a length ahead of Rilrae. “Oh, alright! I was rude and mean… I could see how you were looking at me, dammit, I should have told my own story. I must be some kind of coward, I just couldn’t _do_ it.”

“They did not give you much of a chance.” 

Rilrae smiled at me and shook her head. “No wonder the Gods like you so much, always looking for the good in people. I wish I knew how to do that.” She sighed. “No, the truth is, I couldn’t make myself do it, and they could tell.” She looked at Bao, who did not turn around, and then at me. She seemed no older than I was when Cillian was still alive, and just as confused. Here I was, just past twenty, and I was supposed to be mentoring this girl? True enough, I was somewhat different now than I had been then, Rilrae and I also had strange powers and a mixed heritage in common… I suppose that must have been what attracted her to me. But what was I going to do with her? Aside from getting her away from her parents for a time, I really had no plans for her when I agreed to this in Bhaktipur, and I still had nothing.

“Your parents are remarkable people.” Bao ventured as I remained silent. He spoke over his shoulder without looking at Rilrae.

“Sure. They’d have to be, they were the only two that survived the death of their world.” An intimidating legacy, to be sure, and not something I could think of a response for. If it was too much for Rilrae, once again I had to wonder; what was I to do with that? And she went on, “Was it really so bad, what I did? I couldn’t leap across the world in the blink of an eye, unlike _some_  people. I wanted to do something for you, and that war was all I could think of.”

“I think you know the answer to that.” I said softly. Indeed, Rilrae had not brought it up since she had speared that man.

  
“Yes… but more terrible than the other thing?”

Once more, it was something I did not know how to speak too. “Time will tell, and if your mother and father are as skilled and powerful as they say-“

She threw up her hands. “If that’s what determines it, then have no fear. Maybe I should tell you about how my father convinced all the armies of your part of the world to march as one, or how my mother used them to smash the Tatar Horde…. what now?”

Bao was just far ahead of us to see around a wall and some shrubbery that blocked our view of what was around the bend. He reined his horse in and turned sideways so that we would have to stop.

“Aye, what now?” I asked.

Bao wasn’t looking at us. “If you intend to keep speaking of such things, it may be time to switch tongues.”

“A town?”

“You could call it that.” We joined him and beheld Roanapur. Much of it was built into the side of a cliff to either side of a waterfall. , the rest sprawled in a maze of shanties along the river that flowed from it.

Rilrae snapped her fingers and held her hand up. “Before we go any farther, indulge me a moment?”

Since she was speaking d’Angeline already, and had made so few direct requests, I nodded and looked to Bao. He shook his head at me; “I think that whatever she has in mind, it is going to come from you.”

“Yes, _this_  time.” She quirked a smile at Bao and then asked me; “What does all this look like to you?”

I looked at her for a moment, trying to decide what she meant by that. Then I shrugged and looked back at the town. “It seems old, many generations must have gone into all those carvings in the cliffs. It looks busy, yet well-organized… this is where caravans make ready to depart for the region we just came from. Hot… dusty, without the water it would be unbearable here, what with the way the cliff reflects the sun…”

“No, please Moirin, let me ask again; how do you _feel_ , looking at it. Is there anything attractive about it to you?”

“Feel?” _Attractive_? I looked again, wondering what she was really asking, again. “There is no symmetry here, it flows like the water spilling down… all vertical and then suddenly meandering about. It is like two places at once, and … quaint, in its way. I think I’d like to know what it looks like from up on one of those balconies.” I closed my eyes, remembering caves I had seen, and lived in. “Those homes carved from solid rock must be interesting, so restful, with the sound of falling water all the time. What if those rooms _have_  been there for centuries? Imagine how every passing generation has polished the floors, fine-tuned all the furnishing and arranged everything to perfection. Ah, wouldn’t it be a lovely place to stay for a while? If we could spare a day… but we can’t. Barely mid-day now and with the monsoon coming we … what?”

I glanced back at Rilrae, and saw her exchange a knowing look with Bao. “… as easily as other people fall out of a boat,” he muttered, with a smile on his face.

Before I could react, Rilrae told him; “Anyone that wouldn’t consider you the luckiest man on earth is an imbecile.”

Bao stared at her for a moment before clearing his throat; “Well, yes… now that you mention it…”

She said to me; “So much love in you, you can’t help expressing it, and seeing the very best in everything. Even what does not deserve it, you try to forgive and see past the bad.” Rilrae nodded to herself as if she had just solved a mystery, she and Bao both gazing fondly at me.

To say that their looks and her words made me uncomfortable would be a classic understatement, even if the Bright Lady was basking comfortably somewhere under Rilrae’s red-brown gaze. I blurted out the first thing that came to ming; “What about you, or your family's eyes? What are YOU seeing here?”

She rolled her eyes. “My Mother? She would see a prime ambush point with good flank security. That, or she would be warning about all the predators lurking in that crowd. As for my Father… he once spent half an hour explaining the intricacies of a rowboat to me, just imagine-“

“That must have been when you were much younger.”

She glared at Bao. “You mean when I was more willing to hear him out. Yes, damn me, it _was_.”

“Wait…. Rilrae, what about _you_?” I waved at the town. “What do you see and feel in this view?”

“Just a place…” She tried, her mouth worked, but she could put no words together, and finally hung her head. “There is nothing there but our first steps in Bhodistan proper, and it looks like it smells bad.” She sighed and blew an errant strand of hair out of her face. “I wish I was more like you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As ever, give me a hour to make sure it's all good. Among other things, I can get anything in italics until I go rich text Edit.
> 
> I really respect my fans, for their patience. Just re-read the previous book and DAMN what a lot of dumb lines I had to get rid of... I don't know how you put up with me sometimes. 
> 
> So, I found a little something extra for you, a pic I found that looks like my idea of Moirin-
> 
> http://www.hopesandoval.com/pics/hope38.jpg
> 
> Close enough?


	9. Chapter 9

10

 

As artless as Rilrae’s words were, they were true. Before we were able to enter the town itself, we had to make way for two caravans as they began their uphill journey. Once we were there, it did indeed smell, badly. The waterfall was just a thin trickle, and the river was well down inside steep banks.

I held up a hand before we could become too deeply enmeshed in the swirl of human and animal traffic. “If we are going to get more than one thing done in this place today, and still have time to get to the next town, I think we need to split up.”

Bao did not like the sound of that, we had not spent more than a few hours apart since we were reunited in the Rani’s palace. “What two things?”

“We need to find out what the best route to Indraprastha is.” That was the name of the great city where stood a certain temple, the one we needed to return Kamadeva’s diamond to its rightful place. “The quickest route, I mean to say. And we also need a new pack-horse.” We all turned to look at the one we had been using. Rilrae was mystified, so I had to explain; “He is a very fine animal, he has the best reputation of all back in Bhaktipur. But he is old, and too proud to show it. We need to split his load with another horse.”

The beast in question held his head a little lower than the horses we rode. He walked up to me for a head-scratch and I tended to his ears. He closed his eyes in appreciation, and blew a great gust of a sigh through his nostrils.

Bao conceded my point, grudgingly. “You know I don’t like leaving you alone-“

“Heh, are you gonna let me go off on my own, then?” Rilrae asked with bright sarcasm.

“NO!” we both said at once.

“Didn’t think so, but… _damn_.”

“Don’t even start.” Bao nearly laughed in her face. “I will go find someone willing to give a gentleman from Ch’in some simple directions. The fact that I have a locally-made map of Bhodistan should ease any suspicious minds.” We did indeed have one, a copy of the best map in the archives of Bhaktipur. However, it covered the whole of a very large place, and few roads were clearly shown.

It went without saying that I would be the one to select an additional packhorse.

We dismounted so that Rilrae would be less noticeable, and she graciously took the lead of our pack-horse in addition to her own, falling a little behind me. Moments later, I was wondering if we were not being overly cautious. The Bhodistani come in many varieties, some nearly as dark as she… altho few of those looked as if they had a very high status. There were a handful with Ch’in or Tufani features, I was glad to see. Once or twice, I spied men that I thought could have been Akkadian or Mnekhetan altho I could not be certain of that. “Ah, of course, traders from all over,” I remarked to my horse, and Lady nodded, “still, best to be safe.”

I glanced up at the cliffs again, they blocked my view of the hills we had just descended, which in turn blocked my view of the Abode of the Gods. I made a mental note to look behind me in the days to come, to see if the mountains would look as spectacular from this side.

The pens were vast and varied. I mounted again for a better look, and I was able to tell the holding areas for caravans from the smaller ones where animals were being sold in small lots. I lead Rilrae to the later, where the dust and the odor combined with the heat of mid-day to create such a miasma of misery that Rilrae donned a veil. The tip of one of her ears was showing, I said nothing because it blended with the black hair so well, I assumed it would not be noticeable to anyone who didn’t know what to look for. Mainly, I was searching for a suitable horse, so I was close by the fence before I noticed a unusually large, strong man standing there with his back to me. There seemed to be something familiar about him, and when his head turned slightly, I knew him for certain.

“Sanjiv!”

The very man that had saved my life the previous autumn, when I had fallen ill while a part of that caravan that brought me to Bhaktipur. He alone had ‘brought’ me, the only man willing to see to my needs on that grueling trek. The reason he was the only one was thanks to the unscrupulous caravan master, who had attempted to rape me. I managed to fight him off, and so he told everyone that I was a Witch and to stay away from me. A common illness took hold of me right after that, a pathetic way to die so close to saving Bao from a short and miserable existence, yet that would have been my fate had it not been for this man.

I dismounted and dashed the few paces that separated us. Sanjiv remembered me and understood, he held his arms out for a hug which I gave him like a long-lost daughter. “Bhaktipur was good to you.” He stated, simple and direct as ever.

“Oh yes.” I said, releasing him and stepping back to look him up and down. “I found the man I was looking for, we are married now and... _Gods_ it is good to see you!” He appeared the same as ever… and then it dawned on me; this was no incredible coincidence, this was exactly where I could have expected to see him, especially if he was still working caravans for a certain unscrupulous man. I looked left and right, afraid I might see him nearby… and an idea began to form in my mind. “Sanjiv, must you go north again? We are headed to Indraprastha, and thence to Galanka, and I think we could use your help.” He also glanced about when I said that, and then looked at me blankly. “You would be paid of course, very well-“

“ _We_?” he asked.

“Bao is not here, but Rilrae is…” I looked back over my shoulder, and panicked for a moment; Rilrae was nowhere is sight.

The horses were still there, and a heartbeat later I saw her legs, the strange girl was between the horses and examining the pack horse, looking for whatever clues had warned me that he was in danger of going lame. I called out to her, and Rilrae emerged, pulling her veil off and spitting an impressive wad of dust-clogged saliva out to one side. “I’m right here….” Her eyes went wide. “San _jeev_!”

What she must have looked like to him, I can’t imagine, but for the first time since he was maimed a girl saw him and was delighted by what she saw, rather than repulsed. I knew that it was far from the first time she had seen him, and felt another flash of anger at her, and how she had been viewing my ‘entertaining’ trials … yet my anger was dwarfed by her own an instant later. Rilrae looked at me and her lips curled back from her teeth as she hissed the name “Manil Datar!” and launched into a vicious string of profanity as she ran to the fence, and started climbing it.

“Get down from there!” I called after her. Thankfully, her curses had been in d’Angeline, but now I spoke in Bhodistani for Sanjeev’s benefit. “What do you think you are doing?”

“I’m going to find that heretical/rapist bastard, and drag him over to face Bao for what he did to you!”

While her passion was impressive, and drove home the fact that she was indeed raised with d’Angeline values, her foolishness made me want to weep. Bao, oh dear Gods, his reaction to all this would be terrible. “Are you _still_  trying to start fights on our behalf?!” That made her cringe. “Now get down from there and come with us. I have a better way to hurt that man.”

I spoke that last sentence in d’Angeline, and Rilrae looked to Sanjiv again. A smile lit her features for a second time, and she leaped to the ground. “Understood.” She said to me in the same language before switching back. “We certainly do need someone better than me with horses. With twice as many we can make better time.”

She was quick-witted, more so than Sanjiv. He slowly said “Rapist?” with a mortified look. I’d thought he’d known, he certainly must have suspected what sort of man he served. Now I had to wonder if I was going to have to hold three people back from taking revenge on Manil Datar… and avoid the sort of attention that we needed least of all on our very first day in Bhodistan proper.

Rilrae unexpectedly came to my rescue. “He attempted it, just another bad man and a failure.” She took his hand, and glanced at me for confirmation as she continued; “ _Not_ the sort of man you would want to continue working for, right? We really could use your help, and we are going to see some interesting places, aye Moirin?”

“Indraprastha, Galanka.” Sanjiv said, coming back to a more even keel. His maimed face made it difficult to gage his mood. He stood a little taller and nodded to Rilrae.

“Yes.”

She was not surprised he already knew, yet she did her best to _seem_ that way. “Oh, so you already know? Wonderful! Let’s go get your things, you have a horse of your own?” He shook his head, and gently disengaged his hand from Rilrae’s grip. “Oh… well, soon you will! Is there anything you would like to go pick up?”

Sanjiv was bemused by Rilrae, beyond that I could not be sure what he thought of her as his attention became more and more focused on the young woman. I myself did not want them to go, and leave me to buy horses alone. As a well-dressed foreign woman all alone I was certain to pay far too much or be ignored altogether. It came as a relief when Sanjiv shook his head and tugged on a strap over his shoulder, and showed her the sack over his back. He was so broad-backed that she had not see the bag that contained all his personal effects.

All in all, it was an incredible stroke of luck, marred only by Rilrae’s eagerness to do the right thing… or so I thought at the time.

“Don’t look back, Sanjiv, I’ll take care of everything. That Datar fellow doesn’t owe you any wages, does he?” He shook his head, as I thought he might, even if he was owed a sackful of silver. “Good.” She turned to the boys loitering around the gates, waiting on small jobs for small coins. “Which one of you could find a caravan master named Manil Datar and deliver a message.”

Once more, I was annoyed with her. If his caravan wasn’t leaving today, that foul man might have the chance to spread rumors about us. I could not think of what I should say, not with Sanjiv standing right there, and one lad dashed up to pluck the little coin from Rilrae’s hand. She whispered something in his ear, and the boy gave her a perplexed look. She whispered again and sent him on his way with a swat to his rump. He was gone before I could reach them, my hand landed on Rilrae’s shoulder hard enough to make her look at me with some alarm.

“What is wrong with you? I don’t want rumors of the Ch’in Emperors green-eyed witch dogging our steps all the way to Galanka!”

She smiled in her infuriating little way, and said in d’Angeline; “Fret not, I told that boy to run off as if he was delivering a message, but also to stay _away_  from Datar. He’s known for molesting small boys and farm animals, don’t you know?” Over my shoulder, she winked at Sanjiv while still talking to me; “You don’t think I’m some kind of idiot, do you?”

“Perhaps _not_. Did coming down out of the mountains make you smarter?” Hasty words, I regretted them even as I spoke them, yet they were accurate enough. Rilrae had come out of her funk and her exhaustion admirably, and guessed my plan so swiftly that it made her seem brilliant… until she rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at me.

“I think he wants your attention.” She said, nodding towards Sanjiv.

He was standing right behind me, making me flinch as the big man began a lumbering apology about his former Master’s behavior towards me and his own ignorance about it. I heard him out, for as long as I could, and then hugged him again with my eyes shut tight against a sudden tear. “Its alright! Its alright, you saved me out of the goodness of your heart. You owe me nothing… it is I that owe you. You don’t _have_  to come with us, but I would be delighted if you did. We will do everything in our power to make it more worthwhile for you than another trek to Ch’in. Would that be acceptable to you?”

He petted the top of my head gently, almost as if I was one of his Mules, fretting over nothing. “Yes. Now please, you must let go. We are in Kosala now, this is civilization.”

  
We had huddled together for warmth during a storm, but that was on the trail in the Abode of the Gods. His gentle reminder regarding propriety made me smile as I took a step back. Rilrae had gathered the bridles of our 3 horses, and answered my smile with one of her own.

“Between the three of us, we should be able to find some good horses, eh?”

 

 

Bao was waiting for us at the bridge south of town. It was rarely used during the dry season; most people passing through found it more convenient to water their animals and themselves in the river, and then wade across the knee-deep water. It did not strike me as a very healthy practice.

We saw Bao from a distance, and he gave us a wave before looking down again. He was studying his map, and assumed that much of what was headed his way was part of some other party. He kept his head down as we mounted the bridge, our horses clopping along on the rough timber planks. “You took longer than I had hoped you might. Our first goal is over two… hundred…” He looked up slowly, and was confounded by what he saw. Including the one he rode, we now owned ten horses. And there was Sanjiv, leading the pack-horses. “Moirin?”

“Bao?” I asked, insolently imitating his tone. His reaction to Sanjiv was the sort that the poor man was used to. “This is Sanjiv, a dear friend of mine that I have hired to help us with our horses.”

“Yes… all these horses…” Bao silently counted the new animals, shook his head and asked without looking at me. “You have friends, in _Bhodistan_?”

Rilrae laughed. “Why is that so hard to believe? You have had a friend in Nova Angelica for a couple of years,” She pointed at herself with a silly little flourish, “and you never even knew it!”

Bao snorted. “A … _friend_?”

She huffed and took control of the long string of horses from Sanjiv, behaving as if she was an offended Princess. To Sanjiv, she said; “Yes, that’s him, Moirin’s Husband, God’s only know _why_. Maybe you can explain to him why having so many horses will be so helpful?”

Sanjiv’s eyes were flickering between the three of us, clearly wondering exactly what the nature of our relationship was. At a nod from Bao, he came forward.

”Indraprastha?”

“Ah, yes.” Bao turned the map and held it out for Sanjiv to see… who barely glanced at it. Our new companion was already looking down the road, beyond the far end of the bridge. “I was thinking that it would take us a month to get there, at least 3 weeks if all goes very well for us all. That was before I saw the remounts. What do you say, San-jeev?”

“Two Weeks.”

We were hoping he would elaborate, yet he said nothing more until Rilrae started leading the string of new horses past us. “Aw, I was hoping for 10 days.”

“Horses still need their day of rest.” Sanjiv clapped his hands at her. “Stop, we should change here, now. Try new Horses, to see what suits you best…. yes?” He asked Bao for confirmation. He and I nodded, it was something I should have thought of already.

If Rilrae’s impatience did not phase Sanjiv, he was just as gentle and calm with her as he was with the animals. She stopped with even the pretense of being in a sulk as he showed her the most efficient way to remove and replace a saddle. He even chose her new mount for her, which she accepted with a shrug. While they were busy with that, Bao nodded to the packhorse that carried our box of valuables. “So many horses _and_  a professional to help manage them? I did not think we could afford such extravagance at the outset.”

“Not even married a fortnight, and already my new husband chides me for spending too much!”

Bao reached over and pinched my rump while I was transferring my saddlebags. “Already, I am being taunted!” he responded with a smile in his voice. “I fear this Rilrae is being a bad influence on you.”

“Oh!” The pinch did not startle me as much as his counter-taunt had. “You … well… since _we_  are supposed to be the good influence on _her_ , that could be seen as a good sign that her parents were right about us, couldn’t it?”

Bao was speechless for a heartbeat, and then he swept my up into a hug and a warm kiss. “Well, Rilrae was certainly right about _you_ , and how you see things, and people. Hmph, and come to think of it, I wish she was more like you, too!”

“Why, thank you, my darling man, twice over.” Bao’s praise was making me a little dizzy, perhaps not the best thing for me on that rickety old bridge. “However, I’d be happier if she found out what in the world it is that she is supposed to be, in her own right. This admiration … I don’t feel comfortable with it.”

“Because you are only _half_  d’Angeline, something I continue to be very grateful for.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As ever, please give me an hour to clean this up.

11

 

 

 

As it turned out, Sanjiv was off by one day, thirteen were all we needed to reach out first goal.

Those days started off light-hearted, and remained enjoyable right to the end, for the most part. I explained about Sanjiv that first afternoon while he and Rilrae were out of earshot, Bao was ready to turn around and ride right back to Roanapur when I told him about Manil Datar. I had to explain a little more to stop him, and he looked at me as if he was seeing something new in me. “You have a devious mind, or was that Rilrae’s idea?”

“No, but she understood what I was doing very quickly.”

Bao laughed. “So, at this moment, that despicable man is finding out that his animal-handler is missing, and he must hire one immediately or his caravan will be badly delayed. Ah, but if he delays, there is Rilrae’s rumor making the rounds… every hour will make things more difficult for him. There is little chance he can find a man as good as what he lost, yet the price will still be high for a last-minute hire. He will be cursing his misfortune all the way to Bhaktipur, where he will hear all about our exploits, yours in particular. He may even figure out what happened when he hears we left for Bhodistan, but with our reputations he won’t dare spread any foul rumors about us. And when he reaches Tufan, Laysa will have preceded him. More tales of Moirin the Wonderful for him to choke on… priceless!”

I wasn’t quite so pleased with myself once he had described aloud what awaited Manil Datar in the weeks ahead. I remembered his smarmy ways and his greasy, overly-scented hair. His very manner had been off-putting, would he only become more so, and make himself isolated and miserable?

I had to put such thoughts behind me, just as Manil Datar was behind me and falling farther behind with every passing moment. I did so quickly, and not so much with my observations of this vast an varied land. Our fast pace did not allow for much sight-seeing or relaxation during daylight hours, however much there was to see and reflect upon.

No, what held my attention were more familiar things; Sanjiv and Rilrae.

Sanjiv would be paid for his services with ownership of half of the horses once we reached the river. Half, of our choosing, among those which had not gone lame on the journey. He himself had insisted on the terms, and Bao had found them acceptable. We would have to sell all of the horses at that point anyway, unless we had the great fortune of finding a place on a riverboat that had stables and room remaining for our animals. For Sanjiv, this was a great boon. He had a plot of land and had been saving money to start an enterprise of his own, where he would breed horses better suited to high altitudes and mountain trails. Our payment to him would enable him to go straight from here to his home and get started on that, he would not have to work any more caravans.

I watched him observing our little herd, wondering which of them he might like best… and I soon observed him observing Rilrae. Whether he thought her attractive or if he had noticed something peculiar about her, I could not tell on that first day. That night, we camped in a meadow that we were directed to. It was something like  _taisgaidh_ land, a grassy field dotted with manure and a place to camp near some clean water. While Sanjiv and I were taking care of the horses and rigging up a temporary pen, Rilrae and Bao changed into what they wore for their evening exercise. I was afraid it would be too much strangeness, too soon, but when we returned Sanjiv simply nodded at them and helped me with preparing our evening meal. He _was_  watching them, out of the corner of his eye, he applauded them twice when Rilrae managed to copy a difficult move that Bao had shown her. He gasped when Bao balanced his body on the tip of his own staff, and shook his head when Rilrae took a hard tumble in the dust.

Rilrae’s unusual muscle-tone seemed to have faded a little, I could not be sure yet, but she did appear to be less stoutly built. She had not been eating very well until recently, but I suspected that her usual exercise routine had been far more intensive than what she had been getting on our journey. So much the better, I thought, anything that made her look less bizarre was helpful to us.

Another problem was, I had become used to her eyes.

The slits in her pupils were not noticeable in sunlight, and at night they were so wide that they were not slits at all. In between, it was another story. We all sat down to a stew filled with dried vegetables that had been revived by some careful boiling. Sanjiv, who had not been upset by anything about Rilrae until that moment, took one look at her over the common plate and fell back on his backside as he gaped at her, his sweet eyes filled with fear. “Rakshasa!”

The girl froze in place, a little frightened herself. She looked from him to Bao and then myself, and then asked; “Did he say _Rakshama_?”

It was not a bad supposition. Rakshama was the word for “Help me!” in Bhodistani. I went to Sanjiv and touched his shoulder, as gently as I could. I thought that it was Rilrae that had frightened him, and I knew I had the right of it when he raised his hand and pointed at her.

“Yes, you strange silly girl, he saw your eyes! Why wouldn’t he call for help?” Bao said that in Bhodistani, and Rilrae huffed at him even as she put a hand up over her brow.

The fact that we had all been so non-plussed by his reaction to Rilrae was making Sanjiv calm down a little, and I think that the way Rilrae cringed made him reconsider. “No, I meant Rak-Sha-Sa. Who… _what_... are you?”

Rilrae now had both hands over her face, and just groaned through her fingers.

“We can explain her, but first… could you give us a frame of reference?” Sanjiv looked at me blankly. “What is a Rakshasa?”

He told the tale, haltingly at first but with greater confidence as he went on. In ages past, the great God of all Gods in his pantheon, Indra, had slept fitfully. His troubled breath had spawned random spirits, and their first act was to attempt to devour him. He had indeed called for help, and that call had been the base of their current name. This curious horde had been banished from heaven, and landed on this world wearing human-like bodies and wielding great powers. While as individuals they were insignificant next to the Gods, they were considerably stronger than mortal Humans and occasionally interfered in their affairs.

The more Sanjiv explained, the more relaxed he became. Rilrae was just as ignorant of what he spoke of as the rest of us, and so by his reasoning she could not be one of them. I, on the other hand, was becoming a nervous wreck.

How many, _dozens_? Oh yes, certainly.

 _Hundreds_? Probably.

 _THOUSANDS_? Perhaps, just perhaps.

It was my worst nightmare. “Bhodistan is infested with Fallen Spirits?!?”

“And yet, it is still here.” Bao drawled.

A few simple, infuriating words, and yet they kept me silent long enough for Rilrae to respond to Sanjiv’s open-handed gestures. It was now her turn to explain herself. I only listened with half an ear, enough to know she was telling the bare bones of her story, truthfully. In my own mind, I was reeling. How many like Marbas were walking about in this land? Oh _Gods_ , how many like Focalor? How many would take an interest in me, and now many would be unfriendly about it? And, even worse… Rilrae.  
‘ _We absolve you in advance_.’ Was that what Merrin had meant? I rather thought so, and I began to despise Rilrae’s parents afresh. Had he seen this coming? Had Sushulana’s brutal words been deliberate, rather than the heat of the moment?

Sanjiv noticed my distress, and reached out to take my hand as Rilrae was finishing her story. “I am sorry my mistake has made you so worried.”

“Oh, no, its alright, you never heard my own story, did you?” I sighed and started breathing deeply . “I suppose it is better to know than be surprised later.”

“All knowledge is worth having.” Rilrae quipped. It sounded familiar, like an old quote that I should have remembered more clearly.

Bao came around behind me and settled in to rub my shoulders. His hands felt warm and strong on me, and our linked _diadh-anam_ guided his hands to where they could do me the most good. It worked, my eyes were already closing when he said to Sanjiv; “You make no mistake, and I think it is forgivable that this crazy girl disturbs you so. I have known her for over a week, and she still disturbs me. More than a little.”

“Oh, truly?” Rilrae huffed again, and Sanjiv let go of my hand as he slid away from Bao, and closer to the strange girl.

 “ _Truly_.” As gentle as he was with my back, Bao was unrelenting with Rilrae. Instead of doing something to moderate the discussion, I found myself marveling at his discipline; the intensity of his worlds had no effect on the pressure his hands put on my body. “You act as if there is nothing that should not be seen, and you revel in your ability to see that which others cannot. Yet your very own parents took that away from you straightaway, didn’t they? _All knowledge_ … you say that so blithely, but you didn’t see what the Circle of Shalomon wrought, or what it did to Moirin. If you had, you would know that there ARE limits, especially for an ignorant child such as yourself!”

I didn’t want to look, not after that. I could hear her teeth clicking as Rilrae struggled with what she wanted to say next. Despite Bao’s massage, I felt myself go tight as I anticipated something awful.

So it came as a surprise when she asked, softly; “Moirin, what did they do to you?”

That made me open my eyes. Rilrae was sullen, but also powerfully curious. “They tried to use me up, I felt my soul slipping away… so drained that I nearly died. At the time, I was not dreading it so much, at least my death would have shut the door on what they had made me summon.” She swallowed hard, this was something else that she had not seen. Or, if she had, she had not understood it, she certainly had not _felt_ what I had.

Bao had been there, and his hands slowed to a stop as he absorbed my words. “That bad, was it?”

Rilrae sulked. “Great, _more_  people that I can’t relate to, in the end.”

The long, uncomfortable silence that followed was broken by another of Sanjiv’s questions; “Why does your hair have metal in it?”

Rilrae blinked at him, and patted the bun she had put her hair up into.

“He means … Rilrae, it is time for more dye.” Bao was right, the “metal” Sanjiv referred to was the metallic sheen in her hair. Rilrae cursed and tossed the shawl she had thrown over her shoulders aside as if it suddenly had no value. Muttering under her breath, she snatched a vial of the Rani’s dye and headed to the creek behind our campsite without a word to us. I didn’t know or care if she would be keeping that T-shaped garment on when she hit the water, and I didn’t care… until I noticed Sanjiv staring after the path she had taken.

Bao noticed, too.

“Oh, go ahead. Somebody needs to keep an eye on her. I doubt very much if she wants to see any more of the two of us tonight.” When Sanjiv hesitated, he added; “She was raised d’Angeline, those people are not exactly shy, not as you or I would expect.”

I craned my head around to look at Bao. When I looked back at Sanjiv, he was already gone. “Bao! Do you think that was particularly wise?”

“Wise?” His hands resumed their work, creeping around to tickle the sides of my breasts. “What care I for wisdom, I am in love!”

Truer words were never spoken. As it happened, so was I, and a little break from our companions was not such a bad idea, all things considered.

 

I was not quite so sanguine about it the next day.

Bao and I were well-satisfied with ourselves and the world in general, but so were Rilrae and Sanjiv. They smiled whenever they looked at each other, which was often. They did not lose their vigor and bounce as the day grew hotter, and when they were out of earshot Bao leaned in and asked softly; “You don’t think that they …”

“Oh, no, not yet. Didn’t she say she was a virgin?”

“How can you be sure she _still_ is?”

I looked back over my shoulder at the two of them. “Well, for one thing, she is not riding side-saddle.”

Bao smiled. “I am glad you are in the mood for jokes, it has been too long. I miss the frivolous and fun-loving side of you.” We leaned into each other for a quick hug, and it was a good one until our horses began to shy away from each other. “The problem is, we already have one girl here who might be frivolous … or she may have a mind to change a man’s life to suit her.”

“I should talk to her, and you should talk to Sanjiv?” I suggested.

“No.” Bao shook his head. “You know Sanjiv better than I do. We are both on the same ground with Rilrae.” He saw my expression, and shrugged. “Ground, quicksand, I don’t know. If she was raised d’Angeline, then there is no point in asking her to hold back… but there is every point to be made in asking her to respect another person’s feelings.”

“Ah, do you _do_  understand my father’s folk.” I reached over and took his hand, ignoring the looks from a group of people that were passing the other way.  
“I understand you. Hopefully, that will be enough.”

When I spoke to Sanjiv, I tried to explain Elua, Naamah and the whole religion as simply as I could. I was trying to make him explain that Rilrae would likely regard any liaison with him as a temporary thing … I noticed that he was holding back a chuckle. “Gentle Moirin, thank you. All is well. A place called Gangtok is my home, I visit there every year. A woman waits for me.” He winked at me with the eye that was still capable of it. “She has known me since before, before this happened to me, of course. We will be wed when I return with what we need to begin breeding our herd. Much surprised will she be, when I return early. I dare say she will even be joyful. Given that you are the cause of our joy, I will respect it if are you warning me to say away from Rilrae.”

“No… no, I just…” I wasn’t sure what to say, or think. The idea that poor Sanjiv had a home and a woman waiting for him was a bit of a shock. Now I felt lit a fool for even bringing this up.

“Is it because she is virginal?” He asked quietly.

“Was there anything to two of you _didn’t_ talk about last night?”

He chuckled. “I suppose so, yet I hope nothing important has been left out. Moirin, Gangtok is far away, and one of the children that my woman has given birth to while I was away looks nothing like the man I once was. Your Elua is not the only Deity with a forgiving heart, neither you or your Bao are the only mortals so forgiving. As for Rilrae… she does as she will, yes?”

“She is… complicated.”

“ _Is_ she? Are any of us, truly?”

 

When Bao rejoined me later, he looked much the same as I felt. “Approaching this as if we were her parents is clearly not the way to handle Rilrae.”

“What then?” I looked down at the ground, while Bao shook his head and looked everywhere but at the girl and Sanjiv. He said nothing, and my thoughts moved on. “We certainly have more to think about than her. Much less pleasant things…”

I did as Bao was doing, looking everywhere. There was much to see, and I found none of it enchanting or even enjoyable. Bao saw this, and called for everyone to dismount. We had done little walking since acquiring so many horses. “What now?” I asked as I met him on the ground, leading my horse with one hand and holding the other out to him.

Instead of taking my hand, he put his arm around me, and we walked side by side for some time before saying anything. The road was not a good one, and I pitied the horses somewhat. It was also well-used, mainly by groups of people trudging along… so _many_  people. Most of the roads I have seen were largely empty much of the time. In Terre d’Ange one may see nobody for an hour or more, in Ch’in one might see a hundred other people on the road or none at all, it changed from moment to moment. Here, there were never less than a dozen in sight. From a hilltop one could see hundreds trudging along, and the smell of a nearby village or town was never absent. Soon, there would be no lands set aside for camping travelers, and we would have to seek lodging indoors. Such would be our lot until we were well beyond the great city we were seeking, I knew that without having to look at the map. As disagreeable as that was to one of the Maghuin Dhonn, I had endured far worse. No, it was the teaming horde of people that bothered me, frightened me badly when I thought about it. Without Rilrae to distract me, I had no choice, they were all around me, every time I looked around. Thousands, with millions more of them just over the horizon.

And any one of them could be a Fallen Spirit.

Bao felt my discomfort, his _dhaid-anam_ reached out to mine in the same way that his arm wrapped around me, and attempted to sooth me. He did not speak, and I was glad. His silence allowed me to recall his earlier words, and repeat them back to him with a faint smile’ “And yet, it is all still here…”

He smiled back at me, and nodded. “Indeed it is, and so very much of it that some powerful force must be making life more than possible here. There is a veritable profusion of it. Have you ever seen a place where even Cattle wander about as they please?”

“I had not noticed.”

“No, you have been too busy peering at shadows. Moirin, you are surrounded by some very capable people, you happen to be one of them. Please-“ When he said ‘capable people’ I couldn’t resist glancing back at Rilrae, walking at the rear of our tiny caravan with Sanjiv. Bao chuckled and hugged me tighter. “Yes, even her, once she gets used to walking the world without her exotic powers. With a couple of wooden sticks in her hands she could fend off any assailant I could imagine.”

“Except one of _them_.”

This time it was Bao who glanced back at her. Oh, he took my fears seriously. Who would not, after the experiences we had shared? “I know, Moirin, I was there in time to see what the Circle had summoned, and we banished it together. I understand you fears, but this land does not look or smell or feel the same as …. as anything I am familiar with. The rules are different here.” He shrugged philosophically, and nodded to a fellow that was steering his little cart out of our way. “Who knows, perhaps these Rakshasa are a force for good here.”

“Sanjiv’s reaction makes me doubt that.”

“True,” He thought for a moment. “We could ask him more about them-“ I shook my head, and Bao smiled again. “Then let us look to ourselves. How can we appear to be nothing of interest to them? You know; harmless and insignificant, as we were when we spirited the Princess to Jade Mountain.”

That was something to consider, and I was pleased to lay my head on his shoulder as we walked along. It did not bring our thoughts together, but it was very pleasant. “Well…” I mused aloud, “we are not equipped to fool anyone here, nor should be try. Our plan is to charge down this road with all speed to one of the largest cities in the land… what did he call this Kingdom, Rosala?”

“Yes, but Indraprastha is a different realm, a city-state of its own, I think.”

Bhodistan was not unified the way Ch’in was. It had been at times in it’s past, several times, yet this was not the case when we passed through there. Thankfully, one of those previous empires had insisted on a common language, and we would not have to worry about learning any new dialects all the way to Galanka. “Very well then, we will have the pleasure of crossing a border that may or may not be open to easy travel. Be that as it may, three of us are obviously foreign and all from different lands. The one of us that is not-“

“I am becoming very grateful he is here with us.” Bao’s interruption was seamless and complimented my thought, instead of distracting me from it. Marvelous, and nearly indescribable, is our relationship.

“-also has a terribly memorable appearance. There is not the slightest chance that we will be able to pass through this place without attracting attention. Outside of the cities, we won’t have to do a thing to be remembered for months or years by the folk who happen to see us!”

Fifty men were passing by on the other side of the road at that moment, carrying tools and baskets of gravel. Every one of them looked at us curiously. “True, so what shall we do?” Bao had an idea right away. “We shall play the part of impatient tourists.”

“What?”

“Tourists.” He said the word in Bhodistani, and the Scholars tongue, and the d’Angeline equivalent. “Thanks to our very fine clothes, we cannot appear to be other than well-to-do. Feels nice, doesn’t it?”

“It does, but wait. I know what you mean, you want us to play at being minor nobles out on a lark, but we have to move quickly to stay ahead of the weather.” It was a good idea, but I did not see how it could apply to us.

“The horses will still need their days of rest. All we have to do is find a good, secure Inn for that day, one with a couple of armed guards and strong gates. We spend that day handing out little coins to anyone that can tell us where to go and what to see, and we lounge around eating and drinking when we are not strolling around gawking at the local marvels. As long as we don’t push it too far, and make ourselves look like fools, we should not have any trouble with Bandits.”

“We have already had some, so our luck would have to be incredibly bad to have another… just so long as we keep moving and avoid looking too terribly tempting.” I was not too worried about that sort of thing. Between Sanjiv’s face, Bao’s staff, my bow and Rilrae’s ability to put her fist through a wall, I could not find anything to worry about on that score.

Or, about anything else. It felt good to find that I had run out of reasons to be pessimistic. It felt better than good, this was starting to feel the way the first days of a marriage should. “What a clever man you are. You came up with a solution to our problem that was even more enjoyable than what we were already doing!”

“Thank you.” He kissed my cheek.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of delay getting his out, this last month has been pretty hellish.

12

 

 

 

It is a glorious thing, having the time and the means to spend a day seeing what you want to, and doing as you please in a foreign and exotic place.

We started in what I thought would be the right way; instead of parenting or tutoring Rilrae, we wanted a fresh start as her partner in adventure. In truth, it was what she wanted in the first place, and it was close to describing what we were doing. As things developed, she was also distracted by Sanjiv, and even more so by some of the things we saw. 

A disused temple that resembled a beehive seemed small and homely from a distance. Up close, it towered over our heads, and the intricacy of the exterior was more elaborate then anything I have ever seen, before or since. This building was nearly a hundred feet tall, and there was not a smooth surface on it anywhere. The stairs were the largest plain surfaces, and only the part that feet trod upon. Corners had been cut into the facade or protruded where there was no need for any. Geometric patterns abounded, it was a riotous celebration of a stoneworkers art. They must have had a great deal of time to complete their work, the combination all this artwork and of our own leisure to inspect it made this seem like Bhodistan was a timeless land indeed.

I put my hand to the stone foundation, but I could feel nothing that my eyes could not tell me. The stains and the pitting of the base of the walls indicated that a handful of centuries had passed since it had been built. That was all, there was no epiphany for me here as there had been at Elua’s tree, but there was something like it for another member of our little group.

The primary feature of the carvings were all the people. They were arranged as a frieze would be, yet carved so deep that they only had the barest connection to the wall behind them. People of all sorts, engaging in every human activity imaginable. Including…

Bao rubbed at his forehead, regarding some of the nude figures wrapped in intimate embraces. “I may have to revise my opinion of the d’Angeline people. It would appear that they are not _quite_ the most licentious folk in this world, after all.”

It made me nostalgic for a land that, while not my home, was the closest thing to it outside Alba. There were scenes far more erotic than what was shown here… but not on the _out_ side of the temples or even on Mont Nuit. This was different, and so cheerful. The only sour note was the neglected state of this temple. “Has this sort of thing fallen out of favor?”

“”Mayhap.” Bao answered. “In the years to come, it may become fashionable again. It has not been vandalized in any way. Then again, it may be too much work to swing a hammer for fun in this heat.”

He was right about the heat. here in the lowlands it was smiting by noon, and for the rest of the day one instinctively moved from one bit of shade to the next. It made me wonder how Rilrae was getting on, when I looked around I could not see her. We found her around the corner, staring at the most explicit of the carvings. Without glancing away from the temple, she said; “Some of them…. they look like me, don’t they?”

Neither of us could think of anything clever to say, we just looked at the figures and saw that she was right, somewhat. There were figures that were a little thick-limbed, very thin in the waist, and had breasts that I would have seen as utterly unrealistic had Rilrae not been standing right next to me. She matched the local standard of beauty rather well.

“I like what they are wearing.” Rilrae continued. Some figures were clothed, or shrugging out of clothes. Some of them had short skirts that were little more than belts with a bit of cloth dangling from the front and rear. Up above that was a very abbreviated vest or just two bit of cloth barely large enough to cover what they had to, held in place by string. “It seems far better for this climate.”

To my eyes, it appeared to be asking for more trouble than it was worth. “I believe those are what Dancing girls or other sorts of entertainers wear-“

“Then it’s a good thing I _can_ dance. That is part of our little fiction, isn’t it?” Still not looking at us, she changed the pitch of her voice a little. “Can we find clothes such as these in this town?”

Sanjiv leaned out from one of the many openings overhead. “Yes. It would be easy to find you something like what you see there.”

Timeless, indeed.

“Is there anyone in there?”

“No, Master Bao. I see signs that someone might dwell here, from time to time.” Sanjiv shrugged. “Right now, no caretaker, nobody at all.”

“Anything worth seeing in there?”

He shook his head. “Empty alcoves, little else.”

“I’ll be up to join you in a moment.” Rilrae said to him. Sanjiv’s face shifted in a way that I had come to believe was his smile. “Moirin, I wasn’t kidding, don’t these wraps we are wearing feel too … close? I will try to find something in the market for you too, see you back at the Inn!” Without waiting for a replay, Rilrae dashed off to the staircase leading into the temple.

I turned away, trying not to think of what Rilrae and Sanjiv were about to do. That was a mistake, as my thoughts immediately took a dark turn. “Oh…. no!”

“What now?” Bao asked, alarmed at the look in my eyes.

“What if the same thing happened to the Temple we are headed for?” My feet took me to the base of the stairs, dusty and deserted.

Bao shook his head. “We can ask, but I doubt it.. It is a major temple in the middle of a large city. Priests in a place like that have connections, political ones. If such a place had fallen, news would have spread, even to Bhaktipur.” He flashed a lop-sided grin and pointed at the top of the staircase. “Curious?”

I turned my back on him and started to walk away. “About _that_?”

He followed me at a casual distance. “She did admit that she had spied on us, more than once.”

“So?” I quickened my pace, trying to force him to run after me without running myself. “We rightly called that a _bad_  thing, didn’t we? For my part, I meant that.”

“As did I.” Bao sighed, falling back and refusing to play my little game. “However, it is up to us to keep this little group functioning. And if some eldritch horror should arise while they-“ I skidded to a halt with a gasp, and spun around to look back at the temple. Bao came to a halt to, staring at me as I gazed up at the black and gray monument. “Gods, Moirin, I didn’t mean-“

“ _IS_ that why the temple is deserted? _Is_ that why there isn’t even a watchman?” Without waiting for an answer, I grabbed his hand and dashed back to the staircase. I summoned the Twilight as I went, and Bao said nothing more as I dragged him up the stairs. It made sense to me, at that moment. What if something dreadful had happened there, some foul thing had taken up residence there and caused everyone to flee? Was that why this abandoned place had not been vandalized? I reached out with my senses, attempting to glean something from the cool stone around us, trying to see something of its past. From the stone I gained nothing. When we gained the inner temple, my eyes found rather more than I had wanted to see.

They had wasted no time, both were completely naked and joined at the hip, or nearly so. Sanjiv stood, and held Rilrae close to him with both hands wrapped firmly around her left leg. That leg was pointed at the ceiling, with one heel on his shoulder. The right leg was angled the opposite way, with one foot on the floor. Her torso was nearly parallel to the floor, arms waving in the air as Sanjiv plunged into her and withdrew, over and over again. Her head was tilted back, a pain-free expression of joy on her face.  If Rilrae had been a virgin when they had met, she certainly wasn’t any longer. On one of the previous nights, she had come together with Sanjiv, and somehow concealed this great change in her life from us… from _me_.

 _She isn't Human_ , I reminded myself, perhaps it didn’t mean the same thing to her. Was it simply a glorious form of exercise? No…. no, if that were so, why had she avoided it so long? I quietly asked that of Bao, keeping my voice soft for no good reason. Bao smiled at me and then looked up at the ceiling... and the sky beyond. “She has been liberated from parents that have the long-sight too. Here in this land, she is truly free of them. I am a little surprised she is being as discrete as she is.”

I nodded, and sighed again. “I still think I should have noticed more of a change in her… and, why isn't she just a little clumsy?”

“She does look magnificent, like one of the fantasy figures on the walls.” Before I could protest or start to lead him out of there, Bao added; “Do you think that _you_  are as flexible?”

As things turned out, I was. Back at our room, with Bao’s help, I was able to duplicate Rilrae’s feat and improve on it. For a few glorious hours we forgot our companions and even our quest, or what awaited us at the end of it. The handful of erotic carvings had inspired us, and when we were spent and lying on our bed I mentioned that to Bao.

“Do you think that must have been their purpose, Moirin? New inspiration for lovers.”

“If that is the case, I am finding more to love about this land than I had expected.”

 

It wasn't always so, however...


	12. Chapter 12

**13**

 

 

As we approached Indraprastha things began to change. We had been surrounded by people the whole way, or so it had seemed to me. A day short of the city, there were throngs all about us, and it was difficult to find lodgings of any sort. I felt a degree of discomfort similar to what I used to feel inside buildings, and for the first time it was due simply to the number of people all around us. My mother would have turned off the road and gone galloping across the Farmer’s fields… as I longed to do.  
We also began to encounter the Untouchables.

They were largely absent from the countryside, or what passed for more rural areas in this land. Merrin’s notion of resettlement in the countryside made more sense to me now, seeing how something about an urban environment could lock people into an undesirable lifestyle. The sight of people living in such misery nearly roused me to action on several occasions, yet I had to hold myself back. Until we had delivered the Black Diamond, I could not do anything dramatic, of course. Moreover, whenever the yearning to do something was on me, so were Rilrae’s eyes. I felt her watching me, ready to spring into action, or ready to learn the wrong lessons from her supposed “heroes”. _Damnation_ , it was a difficult thing, having that impressionable young fireball of a woman following me around!

Would it be like this when the time came for Bao and I to raise children of our own?

Would we ever be fortunate enough to find out?

It was a long day, entering the great city of Indraprastha. First we could see it, then we could smell it, and then I could _feel_  it. The vast, sprawling place fairly buzzed at me as a Beehive would, and I swallowed hard at the notion that I would soon be within that hive. Bao’s steady presence at my side helped give me the strength to move forward, as did the weight of the Diamond. Sanjiv and Rilrae rode ahead to the gates of the city with a jaunty air, going ahead reconnoiter for us as good servants should. While they were gone, I noticed another thing that disturbed me. There ruins of various sorts of buildings outside the city walls. Nothing stood higher than a man’s waist, in recent years they had been pulled down or burned down as hostile armies had laid siege to this place. Nothing had been rebuilt, it was either too recent… or there was no need for them, no people to occupy them.

The idea that this city had once been even larger than it was now, and someday would be again, helped me put the place in a more manageable scale in my mind. It soothed my nerves a little, until Sanjiv and Rilrae returned. They had lost their high spirits, and Rilrae looked especially grim when she looked at me.

  
“What is it now?” I asked peevishly.

She shook her head, and drew Bao away to speak to him privately. Sanjiv did his best to distract me; “There is nothing wrong, Lady. The Gates are wide open and traffic is such that the guards simply wave most people through. They are only stopping wagons that are laden, and there is a place for our horses just beyond that.”

I was hardly mollified, and when Bao returned to me, his expression alarmed me before he said a word. “Moirin, you know that gift you have, the flash of history or the future you sometimes see? You have to block it out now, you cannot allow yourself to ‘see’ anything until we are well within the city!”

“But I _can’t_ control it.” Sometimes I could encourage a vision, a hidden truth, to reveal itself to me. When they came unbidden, I was helpless to turn from what they showed me. As luck would have it, the unbidden sort were the most common.

“You must try. Rilrae-“

“We are going by what Rilrae says now?”

“ _Moirin_.” Bao sidled up to me until our horses were literally rubbing shoulders. He put one hand across my shoulders and the other grasped my left hand. “This is serious.”

And to drive the point home, Rilrae closed in on my other side, and put her arm around my waist. “For us, please? Close your eyes, put your head down and pretend that the heat is making you swoon.”

That was an easy thing to pretend. It was two hours prior to sunset, and the heat was at its worst. I envied Rilrae her new attire, yet between the two of them I could not sway very much with all the support I was being given. “Stone and Sea, what is going on in there?”

“Nothing, now.” Rilrae whispered.

“Hush!” Bao hissed at her, in a tone that made me too afraid to be very curious.

I prayed silently, and the sight of me must have convinced the guards that I was actually suffering enough to merit the attention I was being shown. We passed through the gate, into shade that was quite welcome, and then I felt a flash of heat and heard the faint echo of a scream that nearly made me look. Very fortunately, I did not, and the moment passed before Bao could put his hand over my eyes. Ever the consumate performer, he made it seem as if he was testing the temperature of my forehead. Once we were well out of the shade and past the gate, I nearly laughed aloud as I said; “I must look pathetic indeed, no challenge for a group of obviously foreign visitors?”

“I was just wondering that myself.” Bao leaned forward to look at Rilrae.

“Oh, I told them who you are, what you carry, and where we need to go. Thought it might save time, aye?”

I peeked at Rilrae through silted eyelids. “Truly? You can be very handy at times.”

“Yeah, well, my…” She let go of me and faced forward, more rigid in her saddle now. “… my mother taught me…”

“A great many things, I suspect.” Bao said with a heavy hint of irony. “I’m still curious to see how some of those spells of yours work. Where are our guides?”

“Just ahead, see?”

A pair of mounted soldiers wearing glittering Bronze breastplates and holding lances high had been trotting towards us. They reigned in at a respectable distance and half-turned about, waiting for us without saying a word. One of them, a fiercely bearded man with a blood-red turban, pointed at Sanjiv and then to the animal pens off to one side. Knowing he would look to me for permission to leave us, I turned about in the saddle to give him a a nod. As he lead our spare mounts away, I noticed that half a dozen footmen were following us, closely. I caught just a glimpse of the gate as we continued on our way.

The gate was decorated oddly, covered randomly with hand-prints in various colors. Small hands … _oh Great Bear save me_! A wall of flames rushed at me, and before we turned a corner that blocked my view, I heard the scream again. Screams, of bereavement and horror and agonizing pain, generations of them. If all of that had come crashing down on me when I was inside the shadow of that gate, I might have been lost.

Bao’s hand turned my head firmly, and he peered into my eyes. “Moirin, are you all right?”

I took a deep breath, trying to control my shuddering body. “Gods! What _was_  that?”

“Sanjiv told me they call it Sutee, or something like that.” Rilrae was trembling just a little, from rage rather than the shock I had felt. “Widows are supposed to go with their husband’s body to the funeral pyre, and throw themselves into the flames. If they don’t, well, the Husband’s family will generally find a way to make them wish that they had.”

Bao rubbed my shoulders. “We will find a way out of this place through a gate that does not lead to any funeral grounds.”

As beautiful and fascinating as it was, I found much to loathe in Bhodistan.

 

 

“Who would claim what we have without being able to prove it?”

This was Rilrae’s flippant answer to my questions regarding how we were being treated. The Guards said nothing to us, and took us straight to a Temple’s main entrance as if we belonged there. There was not much else to see of the Temple from the street other than the stairs and a columned front with a low roof. At the top of those stairs (and just inside the shadow cast by the roof, naturally) a group of priests were gathering together. They had aides as well, half a dozen of these came trotting down the stairs to take help us dismount and take charge of our horses.

“Welcome to Indraprastha.” One teenaged and beardless aide spoke to us directly. He moved and spoke with a smooth grace and wore robes nearly as fine as the Priests did. “I am Devdan, servant to the the place you see before you. How shall I introduce you to his Holiness?”

As he was looking at Bao, mostly, it was he who spoke first. “You will introduce me as Bao, and this is my wife, Moirin mac Fianche.” Rilrae took up station behind us, and did not react any more than Devdan did when Bao failed to introduce her.

“And… do you truly have … _it_?”

“Truly, we do.” I reached inside my sari and produced the small, rounded box that held the black Diamond. Something in Devdan’s eyes showed he believed us without seeing more, perhaps he was sensitive to such things. His name meant “gift of the Gods”, and there may have been something more to the handsome boy’s name than his parent’s wishes for him to do well in the business of religion.

He ushered us up the stairs and gave the Priests a florid bow that none of us could attempt to imitate. He spoke some formal words so rapidly and I could not follow them, gave our names and introduced us to; “First among Brahmin, the -“

“Please, you may call me Sumantra. You do have it…” his gaze flicked to Devdan, who gave him the shadow of a nod. I held up the little box. “Ah, blessed ones, you are most welcome here!” Sumantra noticed how gingerly I held the box. “Perhaps now is not the time to stand on ceremony. Moirin, yes? I must ask, the Spider Queen…. she is…?”

“Dead.” Bao informed him. “The Falconer and all his assassins as well. There will be no repeat visits from their ilk in this place, nor any other.”

“The Rani Amrita bid us to return this to your Temple as soon as we were able.” I dropped the pretense of suffering from the heat. “We came swiftly and without fanfare, I apologize for not sending word ahead. We thought that it would be safest to travel in such a way until we arrived here.” I stepped forward to put the box in Sumantra’s hands. “And now, I suppose, things will change.”

He accepted the box, and smiled in a Grandfatherly way. Sumantra was a man of advanced years yet in fine health, who had lost most of his hair. The fringe of hair around his skull continued to sideburns that met at his mustache, all of it snow-white and impeccably groomed. “Things may change for you. For us, they will go back to the way they should be, thanks to you and your husband.” He stopped speaking for a moment, and despite his indulgent smile, the moment grew awkwardly long. “Moirin… Bao, the key?”

I was spared having to tell the High Priest and his retinue that we had no key when a small scuffle happened right behind us. One of the lesser aides was staggering back when I looked, and Rilrae was standing tall with one arm outstretched, and through some trick of the light her eyes seemed to be blazing red. The boy had taken her for our servant, and had attempted to usher her off to one side while the 'important' people had our meeting. She was having none of it, and when the boy had put his hand on her shoulder, she had shoved him away.

All of that careful planning, her’s mostly, and it was dashed away by something we all should have seen ahead of time; her pride would not allow her to play the part when it mattered most.

“And who is this?” Sumantra asked.

“They call-“ Rilrae was ready to speak for herself, but Bao turned towards her and pounded the stair with the butt of his staff.

“Her name is Rilrae. She is… a student of ours. As Moirin and I were once students of Lo Feng, _good_  ones in our cases.” He huffed a sigh as Rilrae nodded, and then she preformed an elaborate curtsy of her own towards the priests. Bao continued; “In her better moments, she can be quite helpful.”

She flashed him a grin. “Thank you, Master Bao. Great Priest, he is correct about that, and I can prove it. If you will allow me?” She stepped up, slipping between Bao and I with her eyes fixed on the box.

I bit my lip, wondering if she was going to use her strength to break the box open right then and there. She had done well in warning Bao and getting me past that gate, yet it would be just like her to do something incredibly stupid before I even had a chance to thank her for it.

Bao and I both relaxed a little when she crouched before Sumantra and looked closely at the box as if she had never seen it before. Rilrae added a theatrical touch by holding one hand over it, as if the light was too much for her. I soon saw that it was to keep Sumantra from seeing what she was about to do. With her other hand, she poked one fingernail at the locking device, and made it seem that she was picking the lock with her nail. I could see that she did not, and I also felt the tingle of Sidhee magic again, as I had when Sushulana cast her spells.

There came a click from the box, and the lid opened.

There it was again, that dreadful diamond in all it’s ebon splendor. Sumantra took a deep breath and held himself stone-still for a moment. The other Priests pressed in as closely as decorum would allow. Once they had seen for themselves, they smiled and bowed to us, then moved aside so that their fellows and their aides could see it. Some of the aides were so young that I felt sure they were seeing it for the first time.

Sumantra only looked at it for a heartbeat before his eyes went back to us. Rilrae had flinched back from the Diamond, Bao and I must also have looked uncomfortable. “Those blasphemers must have abused Kamadeva’s Diamond most heinously, in their mountain aerie. Verily, we all must beg you to accept out apology. Had we not allowed the theft to take place, none of this would have befallen you, and so many others.”

For one breathless moment, each and every one of the Priests, the highest Caste in their land, went to one knee before us. Sumatra held the box close to his chest and partly closed, one fingertip between the halves of the box to prevent it from being shut again. I could not think of anything to say, I felt unworthy of the gesture and a little overwhelmed; this was happening in sight of everyone gathered on the street below. As it turned out, it was best that I said nothing at all. At his signal they all rose, Devdan assisting Sumantra to regain his feet. “Now, if you would accompany us, we will return Kamadeva’s Diamond to it’s proper place.”

As one, they all turned and began to walk deeper into the temple. All but Devdan, who was giving Rilrae a curious look. I turned to look at Rilrae as well, and she misunderstood. “Its fine, I’ll wait here for Sanjiv.”

Bao tugged me along after the Priests before I could decide if I liked leaving her behind or not. She was striking up a conversation with Devdan when I saw them last, and that was something I did _not_  like. As sensitive as that young man was, I had to wonder what he sensed about Rilrae.

We caught up to the stately procession of Priests in an inner courtyard filled with statuary. The artwork was so detailed that I could not examine them while walking without becoming a little dizzy. It was such a grand place, with columns that appeared far too delicate to support the mass of masonry above. Dozens of arches were exactly the same regardless of the exacting embellishments carved into them. There was so much to see that I saw little of it clearly, and I barely noticed when Bao had pulled me abreast of Sumantra. My attention was drawn to him when he began to speak with a bit of a chuckle in his voice.

“Imagine, the Emperor’s Jade-eyed witch and Bao of the Lightning-stick, come to give the greatest gift that we could have imagined. Oh, please don’t look so startled, my young guests. Surely you did not think that word of the great events in Ch’in two years past had not reached us here in this great city?” He winked at us. “I believe your secrecy served you better than you had planned. Foreign you may be, but you come to us dressed as gentlefolk with a dancing girl in tow. In the years to come, I fear that people will find it all rather hard to believe.”

“Our story does seem to have that thread running through it.” Bao took my hand in his and kissed it as we strolled along. 

 

My hands flew to a mudra that encouraged composure when we reached our goal. The statue was huge, as would befit a giant of a man riding on the back of an Elephant. The beast being ridden was depicted realistically, but the God’s skin was a curious shade of blue. A portable scaffolding was being put in place as we arrived, and the setting sun threw bright rays sideways through the building. It was a magical sight, despite the incongruous scaffold, and it showed me how the Diamond could have been stolen in the first place. There was a roof overhead, but no walls, only a forest of columns. It was essentially a vast pavilion with as many places to hide as there were ways in.

Bao arched an eyebrow at me, his thoughts running along the same lines as mine, and going beyond them. “How did she climb up there, was that framework in place that night?” he asked of Sumantra.

“She used a rope, and left it behind. Come, you should see the deed done. And then I would like very much to hear something of your history, over dinner tonight.”

A junior Priest was fitted with a white glove that looked so purely white that it must never have been used before. Sumantra carefully gave him the box, entrusting this nimble fellow to carry the box up the scaffold and deliver the diamond it to Indra’s hand. Sumantra followed him up the stairs, and glancing back at our anxious faces made him smile and nod for us to follow him. The structure was the size of a house three floors tall and made of bamboo no thicker than Bao’s staff. Even so, it was  sturdy enough that our footsteps caused barely a shudder as we climbed to the second platform. Sumantra paused there to watch the bearer ascend to the third level. While I absorbed the beauty of the the effigy of the God, Bao tapped the flooring with one foot. “You people build quickly, and well.”

“Don’t give us too much credit, Master Bao.” Sumantra said, not taking his eyes off the Diamond and it’s bearer. “This structure was already here, we use it to keep everything you see spotlessly clean.”

“It certainly is a-“ my words ceased when the young Priest flinched, just short of his goal. He was crouched over the open hand, opening the box, and as he did the slanting rays of the sun flashed into his eyes. He put a foot wrong, and impaled it on a splinter. With a yelp, he allowed Kamadeva’s diamond to spill out of the box and bounce off the waiting hand. It ricochetted off the God’s knee and went sailing away from the scaffold, towards a part of the hard stone floor where there were no Priests or aides to catch it.

“No!” I had a sudden flash of vision, the Diamond striking the black marble floor and shattering into a million pieces, just short of it’s goal. Oh Gods no, I just had time to imagine the Rani’s disappointment before Rilrae appeared on the scene.

The girl entered the pavilion squitnting into the light, and blithely said to us; “Sanjiv won’t come in, can I go-“

She saw it coming at the last possible moment. Rilrae truly detested the gem plummeting at her. She would not have reached out to catch it, if I read her expression correctly she would have stepped out of its way if there had been time. There was not. She did not have time for more than a strangled gasp before the thing glanced off her chin, and plunked straight down into the valley of her cleavage.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And another,making up for lost time with a quick chapter.  
> I was posting every Sunday for a while, but chaos is ahead in my life and its going to be catch-as-catch-can for a while.

14

 

 

 

Rilrae reacted as if someone had defecated between her breasts.

She stood on her toes, knees wobbling outwards and arms angled back away from her body with all the fingers on her hands splayed outwards. She stared down at the visible end of of the Diamond with the whites of her eyes and her teeth showing, while a strained whine came from her tightening throat.  
What we saw of her showed us all of that, and so much more.

Here was a frightened, feral soul struggling to deal with the restraints of civilization. So young, so tender and empty of all the good things that we all could fill her with. Mystical and as bright as her skin was dark, she was so magical that her shadow, thrown huge on the columns behind her by the last rays of the sun, took the shape of a Dragon. Innocent of evil and wrapped in such a voluptuous body that the ultimate carnal delights were within our grasp, if only…

“ _Girl_! Rilrae, student of Bao and Moirin!” Sumantra’s voice rang out so clearly and earnestly that my eyes were  slowly drawn from Rilrae to him. He, alone among all of us, had the presence of mind to simply close his eyes before Kamadeva’s diamond had touched Rilrae. His hands were thrust out towards her in a perfectly executed mudra that drew, and held, her attention. “I take it that you have our Holy relic, yes?”

“ye-es,” Rilrae’s voice softly drifted up to us from the floor. It was a lovely voice now, I nearly stepped off the platform, my desire to hug and comfort her was that strong. “Or…. _it_ has _me_!”

“Come to me, child, come quickly but carefully and do _not_  meet anyone’s eyes, lest they be lost to you.”

“Lost?” She sounded lost herself, but she obediently put a hand over her brow and minced her way to the scaffold. I thought she was being careful, but her other hand came close to the Diamond as if she was wanting to brush it away like a fly. She hesitated to touch it with her hand, and as soon as she reached the steep stairs she had to give up the idea, she needed that hand to gip the railing.

Where Sumantra stood blocked my path to Rilrae, and I dearly wished to meet her at the head of the stairs, I wanted to hug and sooth her and stroke her fabulous body. I would have, but I was also marveling at her reluctance to use its power, her aversion to the thing itself. I could see that she had lied about why she hated it, there was something else, something deeper.

Sumantra’s resistance to its power was also a marvel. He faced away from me and towards Rilrae as she reached the top of the stairs. There was sweat beading on he bald pate, but he sounded as firm as ever when he greeted her. “Well done.” He pointed at the next level and the Priest who had dropped the relic. “Now go, finish this quest and put Kamadeva’s diamond back in Indra’s hand, where it belongs.”

“Yup. How? Never mind,” she whispered as she moved past him to the nest set of stairs. “Sorry.” she added, hand still over her eyes.

Stone and Sea, she wanted to be good, she wanted to be better than she was, so very much! I moved to follow her. Sumantra’s hand went out to stop me without touching me. He had opened his eyes as she passed, and now he looked as sorely affected as the rest of us must have been. “By the Wheel… what _is_  she?”

Not who, but _what_. He must be seeing a good deal of her as well. I didn’t worry about that then, the questions and answers would come later. In the here and now, Rilrae was nearly there. The young Priest was still exactly where he had been, crouched near the giant hand, a thin line of blood trailing down from his foot.

“Take it!” she begged.

The hand encased in the white glove twitched, but the man was truly frozen in place. Incredibly, he did not obey her. Rilrae was not using the power at all, not even the part that should have come to her without her bidding. The man remained paralyzed, and Rilrae was in no mood to wait, or to use even a little of the power she now had. She was also unwilling to touch the diamond with her fingers. The little vestment she wore opened at the front, and her fingers flew to the catch and undid it.

Now it was Bao who took a step forward; if Rilrae simply released the gem, it would bounce off the hand and fall again exactly as it had before. I heard the shuffle of feet below us, aides were moving to where there were no priests, ready to catch the Diamond. It was not necessary, Rilrae held her cleavage tight and did something that none of us were prepared for. She made a grotesque sound deep in her throat, and another as she opened her mouth right over the God’s hand. “Don’t!” I said, and then she _spat_ on Indra’s hand.

It was a shockingly large wad of phlegm, clear as water. The way her mouth worked told us that she didn’t care for the taste, and Rilrae spared the hand just one glance before she flipped her top open. Her breasts leaped free and swung outwards, and Kamadeva’s Diamond landed in Indra’s hand.

It did not bounce. Ludicrously, Rilrae’s spittle held it firmly in place as soon as it made contact.

I could breath again.

The next thing she did was reach for the impaled foot of the Priest right next to her. The spell was broken, however, and he was instantly furious with her. Understandably enough, he shouted in her face. “Blaspheming slut! You _spat_  on Indra, how dare… GAH!”

Rilrae finished her reach, and yanked his foot free of the dagger-like splinter with one smooth jerk. Her forehead bumped his head back as she hissed in his face, loudly enough to be heard by everyone in the hushed Temple. “ _Glue_ , you dummy! Some Dragons can breath fire, some have acid or poison vapors.” She looked towards Bao and myself, and gave us a sad shrug. “I have glue, how _wonderous_  is that?” She glanced back at the Priest as the last of his ragged, inward gasp faded away. “You're fucking welcome!”

Looking our way had robbed her of her anger. Rilrae dashed down the stairs, a tear in her eyes and arms up for the hug I had been yearning to give her a moment before. To my brief surprise, she did indeed come to me for that hug. Not to Bao, and not to Sumantra as I thought she might. To _me_. I think it was because she had felt violated on some level. Whatever the case, I had reason to be glade she chose me; Rilrae had not bothered, or mayhap remembered, to close the garment that covered her breasts. If she thought she was nothing ‘wonderous’, she should have seen the spectacle she made coming down those stairs.

For a mercy, she got a hold of herself quickly. All I could do to comfort her was put my arms around her before all the questions started.

“Glue?” Sumantra speculated, looking up at the young Priest sitting next to the hand.

“Dragons?” asked Devdan, down among the throng below us.

“Think you are tired now?” Bao rolled his eyes at me. “Just wait, this will be a very long night.

 

Gingerly tested by an aide, Rilrae’s spittle proved to have remained clear and hardened to something as smooth and cool as glass. Rilrae said that it was very strong, and admitted that the only solvent that she knew of was her own saliva. Sumantra pronounced this acceptable, the day a success, and promptly ushered us out of the Temple grounds. He went out with us, as did Devdan.

“It just so happens that I was invited to the home of a good friend for dinner tonight, and it is our very good fortune that I forgot to cancel that appointment when you arrived. It would please me to have you along, and Narinder is well-equipped to offer you lodgings for the night, if it would be helpful to you.”

“It certainly would, thank you very much.” Bao said to him, and to me under his breath, in d’Angeline; “All the better to get us away from the temple and gossiping Priests, no doubt.”

“Aye.” I was glad of it. I knew how to behave at a table set in the Bhodistani manner, but the manners of the Priestly caste and the formalities they followed among themselves were unknown to me.

Narinder was a member of the Warrior caste, and an exceptional one. He had been a Soldier of a Religious Order and had thus met Sumantra when they were both young. Late in life, he had come into some treasure defending the outermost posts of the realm. He had made good use of his money, purchasing a villa on a hillside above the Great River. The breeze and the water gave us relief from the heat as soon as we arrived.

Sanjiv had rejoined us outside the Temple, and had listened to Bao’s account of what had happened with the occasional guffaw and a shake of his head. “I wish that I had felt less of a ragamuffin after 13 days on the road, and less awed by the Great Temple.” After a moment, and a glance at Rilrae. “Or, perhaps not.”

“NOT.” She insisted. “If there is _anything_  that could have been more humiliating, then I challenge the Gods to show me what in all creation it could possibly be!”

I winced when she said that, and again when Sanjiv was lead away on our arrival at the Villa. Rilrae started to go with him, as she had so many times on our trek to this city. She was not happy when Devdan told her that she was now too famous to sit at a servant’s table. 

“Go.” Sanjiv told her. He held his head at a certain angle, his version of a gentle smile, and his eyes were reassuringly clear and bright. “Our paths were bound to part eventually. Sit with your mentors, you will be fine…. so long as you remember your manners.”

He was right about being parted from Rilrae, and the rest of us. It would happen much sooner than we could have expected.


	14. Chapter 14

**15**

 

There were lamps and torches all around us, as it had turned fully dark during our brief trip.

Narinder spoke with a soft voice, barely above a whisper. I thought that this must be due to his reluctance to shout now that he had retired, or perhaps the scars around his throat. His broad shoulders clashed with a pot-belly that was certainly a result of his retirement. The master of the House awaited us in a hallway flanked by two armed guards and rows of clean and well-accoutered servants. Narinder greeted Sumantra warmly, with just a touch of the formality that a lifetime in the military had impressed upon him; “Don’t even think of apologizing at this late hour, old comrade. I know full well that you prefer to travel at hours when traffic is minimal.”

“Tsk tsk, the way you talk to me, and in front of your staff!” I knew Sumantra’s voice well enough by then to tell when he was upset, and when he was playing at it. This was certainly the later. “Just how much grace do you think that saving my life has granted you?”

I think he said that for our benefit. It told us much and saved us some questions over dinner.

“Not very much, not for the _first_ time, at any rate.” Narinder was happy to see us, and not just for the sake of Bhodistani hospitality. I saw a glimmer in his eyes, a hint of the fire his adventurous career had stoked in him. He saw something of his past in us, but he was also confused by us. Narinder’s eyes went from Bao, to me, and to Rilrae with growing concern. “I do hope they speak our language, otherwise… I really don’t know where to start!”

“Fear not. Devdan, would you?”

Devdan introduced us with a minimum of courtly flourish. “Lady Moirin and Master Bao, who bravely wrested Kamadeva’s diamond from the Spider Queen, and have returned it to our hands. And their student, the resplendent Rilrae, who saved the diamond from disaster even as it arrived in our hands.” Rilrae mulled over the word ‘resplendent’ as if it had a bad taste for her, while Devdan continued; “You may know them by other titles, such as the Ch’in Emperor’s Jade-eyed Witch, and Lightning-stick.”

If Narinder was happy to see us before, he was delighted now. His hands came together with a resounding clap. “Great Priest, many thanks for bringing this gift to me. From now on, I will greet you in whatever way your aide bids me to do.” He cleared his throat. “Provided, of course, you remember to send him on _ahead_  of you, before your next visit.”

The old friends exchanged an ironic grin. “I’ll do my best.”

“And… oh stand down, Devdan!” Narinder took a step forward and addressed us directly for the first time. “Be welcome here. I find it hard to wait to hear your stories and tell you one or two of my own. But first, please refresh yourselves in the baths. You have had a long day and I have no wish for this evening to be a trial for you.”

“Oh, not nearly as trying as other days have been.” Bao said, and inclined his head to our host. “Thank you, we won’t be long.”

 

A bath is a bath, I suppose, some are more memorable than others. This one was deep in the foundation of the villa, where the tepid water turned out to be exactly the right temperature to refresh us. There were separate dressing rooms that lead to the same little pool, divided by a muslin screen a few inches above the water. Rilrae and I were undressed by female servants who also brushed our hair out and pinned it up so that we would not get it wet in the baths. Bao’s promise to make this quick had been overheard and passed along by Narinder’s efficient staff. Mercifully, none of them came into the water with us as Rilrae and I stepped down, holding hands and letting out a pair of contented moans as the water surrounded our bodies. The servants left us with a little raft holding soaps and oils for our use. Rilrae immediately started making use of a brand new bar of soap that was amber in color and scented like one of the exotic teas of this land. She scrubbed her chest from collarbone to abdomen briskly, still offended by the brief presence of the black diamond. I was about to remark on that when she spoke first; “Right now, Sanjiv is breaking bread with the people who work here, relaxing and exchanging tales about their respective masters. But not _me_ , eh?” She sighed. “How still am I going to have to hold myself tonight?”

Bao splashed into the other side of the bath. We could see nothing of him save for a vague shadow, and we could hear him as clearly as if there were no barrier at all. “The story of what happened in the Temple is going to be heard by Narinder for this first time tonight, from your very lips. I’d be more worried about telling the tale with a little dignity, were I you.”

“Easy!” I snatched the soap from Rilrae, who had become much more rough with herself as Bao spoke. I lost it a heartbeat later, rather that dive after it I took up another little cake of soap, one the color and smell of lavender. “Please, you may scratch yourself. There is a limit to how much attention you should draw to this part of you.”

“They took our clothes.” Bao remarked, scrubbing himself with a sponge, from the sound of it. “I doubt that the changes they bring us will be so revealing as what she had on before …. hmph,  I just hope that they are comfortable.”

“I’ll second that.” Rilrae briefly put her hands behind her head, until she felt her wet hands making her hair damp. For a moment, she stood in the water with her hands up while I tended to her breasts, as if in surrender. I managed to stifle a laugh while a grin spread from ear to ear. Rilrae blinked at me, and my hands on her body, then rolled her eyes. Her nipples had suddenly come to full attention with just the slightest encouragement. “… by Naamah’s steaming slit…”

“Don’t tell me!” Bao didn’t hold his laugh back, nor it’s mocking tone. “I really don’t thing we have time-“

“Time for what, exactly?” Rilrae shot back. “Reaching the next place we need to be _before_  the monsoon starts? Yes, master Lightning-Stick, I have been looking at the map. Based on the speed we made getting here, it will take nearly as long to get to that town where the Riverboats are.”

“So?”

“So… the way I figure it, our odds are not so good. Maybe the same as a coin-toss, or maybe not even that good.” She sighed, a sound of asperity, but the smile she gave me was something else. I could not help myself, she had become so soft, so supple that I hardly knew her. Was it the bath? No, did Sanjiv had a greater effect on her than I had guessed? Perhaps, but what I had sensed in her as solidity may have been some great tension in her. Her arms, her flanks, and her hips were much more pliable now. I think that what I had taken for her strange parentage causing her hardness, was instead the sort of stress anyone can be subjected to. It simply manifested differently in this girl. 

No, not girl, certainly a woman. No mere girl would reach out and start caressing me the same way I was caressing her, not with such a sardonic grin on her face. “One of the lands we have traveled through has a saying about what to do when you have a Tiger by the tail.” I called out to Bao, while looking into Rilrae’s eyes. “What do the those folk have to say about holding a Dragon by the tail?”

“If I had to risk a guess…” Bao splashed his face, and went on; “… B _LEH_ …. I suppose it would be a good idea to compliment said Dragon’s ass, and hope for the best.”

Rilrae let go of me and burst out laughing. I let my fingers trail over her breasts and gave her nipples a tweak before I backed off. She wagged a finger at me, still laughing, and said to Bao; “My best is pretty good. Would you like to find out?”

I had to grab her before she submerged. “Ril- … NO! If you get your hair wet they will know what you were about!”

“She ... wasn’t?” Bao asked.

“She was!” I shook Rilrae by her shoulder. “You _were_ going to slip over to his side, don’t deny it.”

“Why would I deny it? I’m D’Angeline, maybe even more than you in the spiritual sense of the word.” She grimaced and corrected herself right away. “No, no that’s not right, is it? You have the favors and gifts of two Gods. Its not like I can say that any of them seem to care much for me.”

“Why would you say that?”

“ _Glue_!” she reminded me. “That, and…. well,” Her voice dropped, as if that would keep Bao from hearing her. “Being with Sanjiv was great fun. Nice, even, but…. it didn’t change things very much, not even for him. As soon as it was over… I was just _me_ again.”

I gaped at her, wondering what she had built the act of love to be in her own mind. A virgin at her age, not because of any pressure from her parents or others... but because she had built it up to be something so important in her own mind. 

Bao snorted. “You thought that Sanjiv had no life of his own before he met you? Did you think that he would instantly become devoted to your every thought, word and deed?”

“Is that so much to ask?” Sarcasm didn’t suit the moment, so Rilrae shrugged at our silence and rinsed off my back.

I turned my head to look at her while she was behind me. “It is the very worst reason to bed anyone. You must have seen how I failed to seduce Alexi, and succeeded all unknowing in other circumstances. Why would you …. oh dear gods, its the tales & legends from Terre d’Ange itself, isn’t it? ‘More d’Angeline’ than I ? Well, if you have been taking the words of those poets at face-value, no wonder you were like a statue when we first met! You have many things to learn from reality-“

Rilrae grabbed me by both shoulders and spun me around, frightening me a little with the ease she did so, and there was also a thrill in it. Our breasts collided and changed each other's shape as she held me close. “Very well, give me a dose of _your_  reality.”

She knew how to kiss, I must give her that. A new brightness flared in me as Rilrae’s lips covered mine. She did not try to use her tongue yet, I think she was leaving that for me to initiate. Her lips were alive and mobile, stimulating without putting much pressure on mine. Ah… what an apt pupil she would make! At risk of over-balancing use both, I brought one leg up and around, planting my heel on her tailbone and pulling her into me. She squealed into our kiss as her labia ground into mine.

“I knew it!” Bao snickered.

Rilrae broke away from me, and snatched up a bottle of oil from the tray. “You know _wha_ t?!”

And that is how the servants found us when the returned with our new clothes; a smiling Bao with his back to the screen that a furious Rilrae appeared ready to attack with a bottle, and myself somewhat flustered and staggering about in the water, struggling to keep my feet under me.

Sanjiv would probably be hearing all about it in less than an hour, and if he went to his bed alone tonight, he’d still be laughing when he did.


	15. Chapter 15

**16**

 

Bao received a white turban, a blue vest that could not be fastened over his chest. and a set of red pantaloons that came down past his knees. The white slippers that had been brought for him did not fit, so he went barefoot. I did so as well, and after a moment’s consideration, so did Rilrae. She and I had donned wraps that were covered slightly more of us than her daytime outfit had, and were covered with gauzy robes that did a good job of blocking the view, but still allowed air to pass through them.  
“Such a loose weave, these are cooler than what I just had on.” Rilrae remarked. “I wonder if they will let us keep them?”

“Ask, and you may receive.” I assured her. “We have done the people a service, no doubt they will attempt to shower us with all sorts of rewards.”

“Which we will have to turn down, if they add any weight to our baggage.” Bao took my hand as we were lead to the dinning area, and asked with a softer voice; “I have forgotten… we did mention that we are married, at some point, didn’t we?”

 

We had our repast on a porch that faced the evening breeze. The lighting was cleverly arranged, and together with the breeze diverted all of the insects away from us and our food. There was a good deal to eat, coming in such a variety of portions and a multitude of little dishes that it would require pages to describe it all. We took turns telling our tale, Bao and I, with Rilrae being silent though the telling. I was grateful that she never even raised an eye or made other signs that she wanted to add something, or correct us. We had both been dreading the later, yet her behavior was perfect. I could see that she was taking her cues from Devdan, who sat across from her at the end of the table opposite Narinder.

She was also pondering how to tell her part of the story, should she have to.

The great Priest Sumantra sat across from Bao and I, who were able to sit together on a nest of cushions and pillows. The table was low, and we were not exactly lounging around on the floor, but it was close enough that the servants were careful to bring the next course walking on their knees. In this way, they did not tower over their master and his guests. The meal was a two-hour affair that came in elegant stages, and we needed every bit that time to give the most abbreviated version of our story.

“Remarkable… I must consider myself well entertained, and better informed than I have been for many a year.” Narinder commented as a final round of tea was served.

“As do I.” Sumantra told us, eyes distant as he thought about what he had heard. “Now you plan to race the rains, and visit the Rani’s family in Galanka, thence to journey home by ship to Terre d’Ange, or is it Alba you will be going to?”

That raised an interesting possibility, I had not considered going home to Alba first. Innisclan, our glade, my Mother! The tug on my heartstrings was nearly as great as the call of my diadh-annam … nearly. I knew where I must go, and so did Bao;

“Regretful news has reached us of tragedy and business we must attend at the City of Elua. The beloved Queen has died.” Bao took my hand again while he spoke to Sumantra. “We must pay our respects, and do what needs to be done there first.”

Sumantra looked as if he wanted to ask more about that, but first Narinder nodded and said something that a seasoned traveler such has himself would think of; “The odds of you making it to the river in time are not great, if you continue traveling on horseback. And the chance of finding a boat suitable to you are worse unless word is sent ahead. If you will allow me to do you some small favor,” he glanced at Sumantra, who nodded, “I can make arrangements, my little contribution to your rewards for bringing us Kamadeva’s Diamond. I can make arrangements for you to be taken by coach across the plain, and I will have word sent ahead for the best barge on the river to await you. The coach I have in mind is fast, for a message to get there ahead of you it will have to be sent by the relay-riders. Yes, two days ahead of you, that should be about right. One week in a carriage for you, and then a leisurely month spend floating down a great serpent of a river in comfort, does that sound pleasing to you?”

“It certainly does!” Rilrae finally spoke up, and then looked as if she regretted it. “Our horses…”

“We were going to sell those anyway.” I gently reminded her, not looking forward to a long coach ride if it was to be anything like the one I had endured during my first days in Terre d’Ange. To Narinder, I added; “We promised some of them to Sanjiv, he will be taking the rest home with him. How soon will this coach be leaving?”

“Since you have things to attend to, how does the day after tomorrow, first thing in the morning, sound to you?”

“Wonderful!” I caught a tiny sound coming from Rilrae, not a happy one. After all the times I had chided her for being insensitive to the feelings of others, I wanted to kick myself for not thinking of that immediately. Our time with Sanjiv was suddenly being cut short. Bao did not notice her change in mood, but he did notice my own. His words of gratitude died off as he followed my gaze.

“Well done, my friend.” Sumantra congratulated Narinder. “And now I suppose it is my turn to offer a boon to these dear people. And yet, I am not clear on what it should be. This has all come upon us so suddenly, after all.” His eyes also came to rest on Rilrae. “Young Lady, I would very much like to hear your story as well. But first, do you think that you can suggest something that your companions would find suitable? Something they would accept from us with a glad heart… without offending their considerable modesty?”

I didn’t know if he was testing her, or simply searching for a suggestion that we would not dare make for ourselves. I don’t think that Rilrae considered either possibility; she blinked, glad to clear her head of what she had been thinking about. Barely sparing us a glance, she looked to Sumantra and thought for a moment before saying “What of the Rani?”

“What of her?” Sumantra asked with a cooly neutral voice. I saw that Bao was right; Priests of a certain level inevitably became political.

“I don’t think she would want anything for herself.” I said to Rilrae. “Nor do I think she would accept anything of a material nature.”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Rilrae answered me, and Sumantra inclined his head to her. “Not an alliance or trade deal either! No… I’m asking for… I’m asking that you never treat her as an enemy.”

Sumantra and Narinder exchanged glances, and then focused on Bao and I. “Why would we have reason to consider such a thing?”

That was _not_  a rhetorical question.

In our turn, my Husband and I looked to Rilrae. She leaned in close and said softly; “You know, the Untouchables!”

“Oh.” Bao mused as the point Rilrae was fumbling towards came clear in my mind. “At our request, the Rani Amrita has eliminated the Caste distinction known as the Untouchables. Essentially, she has freed her society’s slaves, and it has been a beautiful thing to behold.”

“Wasn’t it?” Rilrae flashed a smile that would bedazzle a eunuch, yet only Devdan paid it any attention. Sumantra fell back into the cushions that supported his back, eyes wide with disbelief. Narinder’s posture shifted slightly, into something that reminded me of a Cat that had been alarmed by something curious.

Devdan was the first to respond. He was not so dazzled by Rilrae as I had thought; he spoke straight to her. “You can’t be asking us to do the same thing… ?”

“No!” I almost shouted. Rilrae couldn’t be that bold, or that demanding… could she?

“Good.” Narinder drawled. “Then, what?”

Bao took up the thread; “Simply this; allow it to run its course. Don’t interfere, don’t _allow_ any interference from any quarter if you can. No intrigue …. just, please, allow the Rani’s social experiment continue, and judge the result on its own merits.”

“Um… yeah. _that_.” Rilrae agreed, and her enthusiastic nod earned her a smile from Devdan.

“You would suspect us of intrigue against Bhaktipur?” When he was displeased, Sumantra could look frightening.

“The Priests were not happy.” Rilrae blurted out. “Not as angry as the second-lowest caste, but you are the biggest priest of all and you look more angry than any of them were!”

Another shocked silence followed. Before I could figure out a way to break it diplomatically, Narinder guffawed and slapped the table. “From the mouth of the innocent, yes?” His elbow went out, as if he meant to nudge Sumantra with it. He thought better of it when the Priest’s eyed rolled his way. “Oh, into the second occasion I saved you already, am I?”

“That, my friend, is a Karmic debt. You don’t get to collect in this lifetime.”

“Ah, just so.” Narinder leaned back, ceding the table to Sumantra and favoring us with a reassuring smile as he did so. His optimism turned out to be well-founded.

The High Priest’s expression softened, as it would on a man who did not allow himself to carry any sort of grudge. “These are extraordinary circumstances and we are not standing on any sort of formality here. Your request is granted; we will observe and make our own judgements, nothing more, It is but one small country with one small city, after all… and you did not request to be showered with gold or any such thing. However, I will request something of you… Rilrae. Tell us _your_  story. Explain yourself, and your parentage, and anything else that can explain your reaction to our most sacred artifact.”

She had started to pout when he mentioned her parents, and his last few words gave her a way to explain both things in a more positive way than I had been expecting.  
“My Father can do something similar to Khamadeava’s corp-… _diamond_ , can do. Not to everyone in sight, and it takes him some time. I think a dozen or two would be his limit, and he could make people do just about anything… but he _never uses it_.” All of us had been frowning at her, wondering if she was bragging or saying that familiarity breeds contempt. However, this was new, was she going to say something good about her parents, for once?

“Never?” Bao asked.

“No, and the reason why is what is important, he reminded me several times, practically drilling it into my head. He’d say ‘There is a reason why even the Gods themselves don’t interfere with Free Will, why they always try to work within the limits of persuasion rather than mastery; it is because whenever you try to manipulate people’s desires, it always backfires on the one trying to do the manipulating. _always_.' ” She paused and nodded to Bao. “Doesn’t it?”

He flushed, and so did I, but Sumantra was already pressing her attention. “So, you don’t believe in the power itself, the very principle of it offends you? How interesting…. yet I think you are being overly general when you say that there are no Gods that would seek to manipulate the minds of men.”

“Well, not the _good_  ones.” Rilrae hastened to amend; “None that are any good at _being_  Gods, I mean to say.”

It was not Sumantra’s turn to slap the table, with both hands, and then clap them together. He was laughing so hard that he had to struggle to get the words out; “ _Mumtaz_! Most excellent one, I name you. Ah, Rilrae, thank you for that. From the mouths of the innocent indeed, yes Devdan?”

“Yes.” He held up a had at Rilrae, who was confused and becoming irritated. “Rest assured, you are not being mocked. In a roundabout way, you have stated a cannon of our religion. You simply did it in a most peculiar way.”

Bao smiled and looked to me. “All ways…”

“… lead to the way.” I finished for him, and I could not help smiling myself.

“Rilrae,” Bao went on while Sumantra wiped his eyes. “If your father detests and no longer uses that power, why did he never divest himself of it?”

“Why would he do so?” Narinder re-entered the conversation. “It would seem to be a handy thing, should one ever be surrounded by a gang of murderous thugs. He, I take it, is the Dragon part of your parentage, Rilrae? I find it curious that you look so much like one of us, what of your mother?”

It was difficult to explain the _Sidhee_ to anyone in Bhodistan. I started to describe them as shy, mystical forest-spirits, until I realized that everything I was trying to say described something very different from the Sushulana I had met. Rilrae wasn’t doing any better, until she spoke of her in purely physical terms; “Slighter and more delicate that Humans, very beautiful and in most ways similar to you folks.” She pulled her hair out of the way so that they could see her ears properly. “I suppose that the compromise between the two lets me look human, and left me with… _this_.”

She indicated herself with a self-depreciating wave, the kind of thing that Bao and I had come to expect, and also the kind of thing that roused a young man like Devdan to eloquence. “I have heard that the more attractive a woman is, the harder she will work at finding something about themselves to feel bad about. Why _is_  that? From where I sit, here and now, I could think of many great works of art that would have turned out to be far superior, if only _you_  had been the model sitting for them.”

Rilrae spluttered, and had no idea what to say to that. She fell back on explaining her parents to our august hosts, a task that took as long than the story Bao and I had just told. We learned a great deal, far more than we had when Sanjiv was present, altho she and Devdan never ceased exchanging glances. I stopped paying attention to Devdan and the others by the time the second dessert was served, her story was engrossing and complex. Merrin and Sushulana were more like people and less like what I had taken them for at our meeting. Their lost world, those seventy years of mutual self-deception, and how the magic of Terre d’Ange had healed them and brought them together at last… that was an epic in itself. What had followed was even more so, and yet it was still a secret!

WRONG, it was so _wrong_ to me. Their century of service in the shadows was long over, and yet they were still in hiding for all practical purposes. “Why, Rilrae? Why have they not announced themselves? After a whole century, they should be able to allow for the fact that nobody in the Palace remembered them… or that the knowledge of how to call them back had been lost. Did they never consider the possibility?”

She sighed, and then shifted around to the far end of the table, so that she could face Bao and I directly. “You were in that Palace for some time, you must have heard about that expedition to recover Hyacinth’s books. Did you ever wonder _why_  the Courcels would feel the need to do so? Over time, fear and mistrust began to fester, a tiny seed planted by my Father’s high-handed ways during a great crisis. It grew over time, and so Gautier and Jean-Philippe, their entire entourage and a whole fleet … all went on some great quest to find a power to counter that of my parents when they returned. And thus, the great tragedy of the age.”

“Do you know what happened to them?” Great tragedy indeed, the effects on House Courcel had been devastating, and still were to this day. I remembered Prince Thierry showing me the portraits of his Grandfather and Great-Uncle in the Hall of Ancestors, and how his family had been haunted by the losses they had suffered.

“No. Nobody does. One hour they were there, the next, nothing. My Father suspects that a large Rogue wave took them, my mother fears that an unknown doorway into the great beyond exists in that ocean. Whatever the case…” She sighed, and glanced at the others, still listening silently. “The truth of the matter is, they blame themselves. Both for the mistrust that motivated that quest, and for the disaster itself. I think its silly, myself, we don’t _know_ what was on their minds, and I think that the summons was never sent because there was nobody left that knew how to make it! When I was a child, I could sense that they were sad about something long before anyone explained things to me. I used to try to cheer them up… dance around, play pranks and so on. I even thought it was helping, time went by and they weren’t so glum. Now, I'm not so sure, maybe it was just the passage of time that dulled them to the pain. Damn it all.... it wasn’t until recently that I even found out that they had never been married.”

Bao’s fist thumped his chest, and I felt my jaw drop. I managed to speak first; “After all this time? Surely they could have… does the custom mean nothing to them?”

“After so much time, I thought that things like that can lose their meaning. They call each other their “mate”, as in mated for _life_ , and that counts for something, right?” Rilrae did not sound very sure herself. “But last year I found out that they had been waiting for the summons. When the exile started, they had decided that they would be wed in a good and proper ceremony in Elua’s temple, that was how they were going to celebrate it all. And, the way things worked out…. maybe after so much times, the whole idea of another ceremony just doesn’t mean what it should. Or rather, what _we_  think it should mean…”

We?

She shrugged, at a lose for words, much as I was.

Bao’s hand was in mine again, I had been squeezing his and he squeezed mine in return. We had heard what we needed to just in time. Narinder’s eyes were half-closed, and Sumantra was nodding a few too many times as he acknowledged Rilrae’s points. Devdan diplomatically reminded everyone how late it was by inquiring if it was too late for more tea.

“I had wanted to regal you with some tales of my own.” Narinder yawned, and that was all it took for me to start yawning myself. “Tomorrow, then. We all have arrangements to make, and there will be time for more of this highly intriguing conversation then.”

Three claps summoned the servants of the household, who came to see Sumantra to his carriage and ourselves to our rooms.

“May we, linger a moment?” Devdan asked.

“To talk for a bit, _we’re_ not tired.” asked Rilrae, now sitting quite near Devdan, thanks to her earlier shifting about.

It was almost funny, how Devdan was asking this boon of Sumantra, and Rilrae was asking it of us, as if they were our respective children. However, they were adults, or nearly so. The only way to let them know that was to start treating them as such.

 

I cannot say that I was overly surprised to see Devdan laving Rilrae’s room early the next morning.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> looks like the Sunday update schedule is out the window. I'll do my best to keep putting more chapters out every 7-10 days.

**17**

 

 

I wasn’t expecting it, I was learning something about some of the more straight-laced, conservative societies that I had taken for being so different from Terre d’Ange. There were plenty of assignations going on in Bhodistan, the people carrying them out were simply more guarded, more discrete. It was barely dawn when Devdan exited Rilrae’s room, and he pretended not to notice me as he walked quickly down the hall. The only servant in the area likewise pretended not to notice Devdan, and that was that.

The reason I was out in the hall was because there were no chamber pots in the dwelling rooms because of the heat, and the rapidity with which flies could appear. I did my ablutions in a room set aside for the purpose at the end of the hall, and looked in on Rilrae on my way back. She was still asleep on a bed that had seen much activity during the night, and I guessed that she would remain asleep for as much of the morning as she could. When I returned to Bao’s side, he woke only briefly, and murmered; “Not breakfast time already, is it?”

“No, the house is too quiet.”

“Good. I don’t think that 3rd dessert has made it all the way into my intestines yet.”

 

We dozed, and I think it must have been an hour or two later when we were roused by softly-treading servants, ushered into the bath and issued a fresh set of clothes that were a close match for what we had worn the evening before. Rilrae did not arrive until we were leaving, and she barely said a word before she fell into the baths as if she intended to stay there for a good long while.

She missed breakfast, which was brief. I had half expected Narinder to start regaling us with tales of his own exploits, instead he was all business. Following subtle clues, we agreed that Bao would go with him to arrange our transportation while I went with Sanjiv as he took care of the final disposition of our many mounts. Somehow or another, this seemed to be the proper way to take care of things here, and I collected Rilrae on my way to find Sanjiv. The ease with which she had shifted her attentions from him to Devdan irked me, and I intended that she would say a proper goodbye to him.

Sanjiv took one look at her, and he just smiled and shrugged. He knew what had happened before she could say a word. He _was_  surprised to hear that it was also the end of our time traveling together, and decided to take the matter head-on and tackle the practical side of things first.

“We have to go to the pens right away. If we are lucky it will only take half the day to sell off the horses you choose-“

“ _You_ choose.” I insisted. He would not have accepted that unless I had explained that our journey to the sea was being taken care of by the grateful people of Indraprastha.

In the vast, dusty pens I said goodbye to our horses and helped Sanjiv with the selling. He was a canny trader and knew what the prices should be, all the help that Rilrae and I could give him was to stand close to him and give other signs that he was known and liked by us. His claw-scared and twisted face was a handicap to him, even when it came to such business. A pair of pretty girls, no matter how incongruous in this setting, boosted his image and he was able to wrap things up well before noon.

“Thank you very much, and not the least for being with me for this. At home there would be a comely lass to take care of this sort of thing. She will be mightily pleased, and as thankful to you as I am, for all of this.” It was not the most diplomatic thing he could have said, not with Rilrae standing right there. If his intention was to make a clean break, he succeeded admirably. The look she gave him was perhaps all the encouragement he needed to make his next announcement; “I will be leaving now. Half a day farther down the road may help me stay ahead of the rains.”

Rilrae huffed. “Well, if that’s -“

She got no further, Sanjiv took her in his arms and kissed her farewell. It must have been a good kiss; instead of pushing him away she allowed him to linger over their last contact, and then have a hushed little conversation. I backed away to let them have a private moment, and my eyes were drawn to that hateful gate again. There was no flash of heat, no vision of any kind. They never came the same way twice, nor gave me the same information twice. I was glad of that, but the mere sight of that thing made me regret that I wasn’t leaving as quickly as Sanjiv was.

He gathered his string of horses and started leading them towards the east, and then paused at my side. I had thought he would save his final words for us for Rilrae, it surprised me to feel his hand on my shoulder. “The Great Wheel of Karma has come full circle with us.” Sanjiv took a deep breath, still looking at me. He was preparing himself to say more words than was his usual habit. “Please don’t think ill of us, Lady Moirin. For me, Rilrae was a rare chance to be intimate with a woman who looks much like a Goddess… in certain lighting. I knew all along that she would find her way into another bed. It was a little surprising to me that she returned to me as often as she did. It makes me feel rather good about myself.”

“And what of Rilrae?” I watched her wander back towards the animal pens, not seeming to care what we were talking about. “What did you… this _experience_ , mean to her?”

Sanjiv shrugged. “Ask her. Oh, I can assume that she overcame a challenge, in her mind, or rewarded me for the help I gave you in the most extravagant way she could.” I rolled my eyes at him, and he patted my shoulder before pulling his hand away. “Please don’t ask me for anything philosophical. The best I can tell you is that Rilrae badly needs some fun in her life, and it was my honor to help her have a little.”

And that was that.

I watched him go, walking out into the heat of the day and leading the lightly burdened horses as if he meant to walk them all the way to the other end of Bhodistan. Backing towards Rilrae, I gave sent a prayer for luck his way. and then I hooked my arm around the girl’s waist and walked her back to Narinder’s house.

 _Fun_ , that made more sense to me than any of the other reasons Sanjiv had tried to formulate. I had thought that Rilrae would fall in love with Sanjiv as I had with Cillian, at least for a little while. This was not the case, and it ceased to bother me once I understood how liberated Rilrae felt. Literally, I could _feel_ it in her, and I enjoyed thinking that Sanjiv had more to do with that than Devdan. I had no ill-will towards the polished and oh-so-correct aide to the High Priest. It was simply that Sanjiv was my friend, and my experiences with poised and elegant men had been mixed… to say the least.

 

Narinder spent most of the afternoon regaling us with tales of his own adventures, and thirty years of almost constant movement had given him a considerable store of them. Unfortunately, none of it was of any help to us.

This great man had gone deep into the mountains of the north, he had been to Bhaktipur before any of us had been born. Narinder had gone so far to the east that only ocean stopped him from going farther. The deserts and uplands to the west were a second home to him, and somehow this barren region had been the source of much of his wealth. However, he had never been to the south, where Galanka lay. However much help he could give us getting there, he could tell us little of that part of the country or the people we would be meeting there.

We also met his wives, twins that he had rescued from a Bandit King in the far-off land of Kom. A marriage to more than one woman was technically illegal in this part of Bhodistan, but the ceremony had taken place in Kom. Narinder’s description of a Temple complex so venerated and so vast that it rivaled this very city for size bedazzled even Rilrae. I felt certain that no official would have the nerve to object to his domestic arrangements, not after hearing Narinder go on about how these arrangements had come to be. We certainly felt a bit awed by this man and his career. The four years he had spent a captive of riverine pirates made the year I had spent chasing after Bao feel much more bearable in my mind.

He dismissed us a couple of hours before dinner, to allow us to absorb what he had told us and to give us a reprieve from his narrations… or to take a quick bath and a nap if we felt the need, as he put it.

“I have no need for treasure or a house like this.” Bao assured me. “Surely not if it means thirty years of _that_.”

We lay side by side on a reclining couch, a luxurious piece of furniture that allowed us to lay semi-upright and next to each other. I would have liked to cuddle more closely, but the heat made that uncomfortable. The couch must have been made with exactly this situation in mind, the sort of convenience that only an extravagant budget would allow for. In spite of this evidence of the value of wealth, I had to agree with Bao; “Aye, and that poor man, to marry so late in life, he will probably never see his own grandchildren.”

We dozed, until a the crash of falling furniture awoke us. Sitting up with a start, we looked at each other with questioning eyes wondering what had happened, then the sound of Rilrae cursing came to us from to open balcony window.

With a heavy mutual sigh, we left the couch and made our way to the parlor of her room. Rilrae was dashing around, flipping a table over and heaving a bookshelf upright. Her room did double-duty as a guest room and as a library, and of course she had been looking into Narinder’s books instead of resting up for another late evening. Bao raced up to help her steady the tottering bookshelf and the hundreds of pounds of paper that it supported.

“Gods woman, you can’t be _this_  clumsy!” Bao gasped.

“I’m not.” I noticed how angry she was, even after the furniture had been seen to. “I threw that book, lost my balance when it rebounded off that table, and I-“

“Rilrae!” She had shocked me, badly. “Why in the world would you treat someone else’s _books_  like that?” These neatly-bound works would be worth almost as much as a small house.

“It’s THIS damnable thing.” She bent over a pile of books that had spilled out onto the floor. I put one hand over my heart, hoping that nothing had been damaged. “It is called the Kama Sutra.”

“Which one?”

“Its _all_  of them!” Rilrae snapped at me, angry at the books she was handling. “It is a series on how to run a household, and its so intrusive! _This_ on the correct way to cook a midday meal, what to wear and what music to play if your man brings home this or that kind of companion home with him. _This_ for how to make love in umpteen different ways.” She shoved them into the shelves with increasing force. “ _This_ for how to SPEAK to your own children! _Raahhh_ …. they don’t leave a damned thing to your own volition, your own initiative… what… Oh great, here is the one for preparing for funerals, including your own, I'll bet!”

I hand’t spared a thought as to how that Gate would have affected Rilrae. How very stupid of me, how unforgivable. I knelt at her side and took over the re-shelving. There certainly were a lot of these volumes. “I’m sorry, Rilrae, I should have given you more consideration, and I never thanked you properly for sparing me what could have been a very nasty vision. You were very thoughtful, and I owe you….” I happened to look at the open pages of one of the books. “… you can read this?”  
The lettering was not entirely similar to what we had seen in Bhaktpur.

“I can read anything.” Rilrae muttered, getting to her feet and straightening her clothes.

“Well now, isn’t that an remarkable thing.” Narinder said casually, leaning on the door. “I am starting to regret being so helpful in sending you on your way so quickly.”

Casual or not, I could sense that he was very serious.


	17. Chapter 17

18

 

 

“Name your price, then! You could have a ship of your own, servants, anything!” Narinder was in no position to force Rilrae to stay, yet he spent half the evening attempting to persuade her to stay with him, and work for him. “In just a year you could solve so many mysteries, and make yourself rich in the process. Look, here is something that is so old we can’t even identify what era it belongs to.” He passed a shard of pottery across the table to her. It had a dozen odd pictographs on it that looked like no other kind of writing I had ever seen. “That was found near the same river you are headed for, and there are hundreds more like it-“

“I can’t stay.” Rilrae said flatly. “I promised that I would not slow them down, and I meant it. They can’t stay and I won’t stay without them. On top of everything else, Bao and Moirin are the only people that I even know in this city.”

Devdan smiled ironically at her. He had come alone this time, Sumantra and the other priests were celebrating the return of their icon. It had been decided that the manner of its return would be discussed as little as possible, which suited me perfectly.

“You would be very well protected, and my word is well known for being my bond. Have I not treated you hospitably thus far?” Narinder persisted.

After they had gone back and forth like that for as long as I could endure it, I made a suggestion. “Can’t you teach them how you did it?”

Rilrae’s eyes lit up for a moment, and then she sighed. “Yes, maybe. It is difficult… “

“How so?”

“It took me six months to get it right, and that was good enough to earn me some praise for being a quick study. It can be done, but working spells is complicated! I only know four different ones myself. And when I say complicated, I mean that it is _hard_  just getting everything straight in your head.”

“Could you leave us written instructions on how it is done?” Devdan asked hopefully. He was interested as well, thanks to his hobby relating to archeology. This was something he had picked up from Narinder.

“Yes! I’ll need ten sheets of parchment, no, make that eleven because I will need to draw diagrams for you, drafting tools too. You may eventually get the hang of it, but-“

“Eleven pages? May we see it done first, just to get an idea of what we are asking of you?”

“Naturally.” She pricked her finger on a knife, just hard enough to draw a couple of drops of blood, and smeared them on her eyelids and the center of her forehead. Perhaps it was her dark skin, but the blood seemed to vanish right away. Bao and I glanced at each other, and the others seemed a little nervous as she started softly chanting, with one hand pressed firmly to the shard. She hesitated, and repeated the words to herself again, and again. I could see frustration in her face, even with her eyes closed, as she persisted. Sweat had begun to form on her forehead before she opened her eyes at last and peered at the writing. She shook her head, and turned the piece of pottery upside down, and then on one end. It was meant to be read from top to bottom, instead of from side to side.

“Ah, there it is; _The tax for killing a slave under the age of ten will be set at_ -“ With a disgruntled sheer, she cast the thing aside, and said sarcastically to me; “All knowledge is worth having, eh?”

“Not my favorite aphorism,” I replied, “I have seen a little too much already.” That little shard did not speak well of that ancient civilization. A _tax_ , not a punishment, for killing a child born into bondage. A chilling glimpse into a time perhaps best forgotten.

She clapped her hands to the top of her head and started rubbing, gently. Eyes closed again, she commented to one and all, “I’m telling you, _that_ old thing was HARD to do. There is less actual effort in getting up and crossing the room to pick up what you want than there is in levitating it. It is easier to spend however much time you need to make a fire than there is to cause a flash of flame in an instant. I should know, I failed to learn either of those spells.”

“Your teacher was…”

I nearly cursed as Devdan asked her that, and the young man must have heard her teeth clicking when Rilrae replied, “My mother.”

“She knows many spells like this, then?”

“Close to a hundred, I reckon. Don’t get excited, she says they are only for our people and even my highly talented sister has only learned a score or so of them thus far.”

“Wait, your mother would be upset with you, if you taught us this ‘ _spell_ ’?”

Rilrae took her hands down from her head, a malicious curl forming in her lips. “ _Oh_ yes.”

In that moment, Narinder and Devdan guessed at the situation in Rilrea’s family, a glance at my Husband and myself confirmed what they were thinking. “On second thought, perhaps these mysteries can wait for another time.”

 

Afterwards, Devdan rose as if he meant to see Rilrae to her room. Something about her movement, or perhaps a look she gave him, convinced the young man that she was not in the same mood tonight. He bowed, and recited a formal 3-part goodnight and farewell to her, and passed along Sumantra’s well-wishes for us all. Then, in a daring move, he reached out and cupped both of Rilrae’s breasts in his hands and gave her his benediction. “May these lovely orbs and the body they belong to never suffer lasting harm. May they always be ripe and lovely, bountiful to your offspring and a delight to your lover. Krishna hear me and smile upon upon thee, sweet girl, preserver of Kamadeva’s Diamond.”

When he was done blessing her, Rilrae did not slap him, she gave him a lopsided grin instead. “I know why you did that. Your trying to get me to do something very difficult…. you want me to have a sense of humor… about _myself_ , don’t you.”

“That would be a good start.”

I turned away from their conversation, as did Bao a heartbeat later. We found Narinder wanting to have one last word with us before the servants showed us to our chambers. “I understand what you are trying to do for that girl now.” He said, pitching his voice so that we had to strain a little to hear him. “A niece of mine was the same way, and she came to a bad end when the rest of her family distanced themselves from her. They never forgave themselves. What you are trying to do, I understand it now. I salute you for that. The courage to face the day-to-day reality of life is a bit different from the sort one needs on the battlefield, is it not?”

It certainly was.

 

The carriage we were furnished was another first for me, I have seen nothing like it before or since. The wheels were as big around I was tall. There was an awning overhead that kept the sun off our heads, and the white-washed lattice on both sides was so open that it barely shielded us from the eyes of passers-by, and afforded us a good view of our surrounding. I hardly felt confined at all, and the best part was how the air was able to circulate. As long as the horses could move at a good pace, the heat was not so bothersome. Within half a day, they could run all the time. Without my noticing it right away, the crowds diminished and then vanished, leaving us practically alone on the roads.

We entered a wasteland before two days had fully passed, a high desert practically devoid of people or other forms of life. All we saw were way-stations where the teams of horses were changed, and one in three of these stations were where we stayed for the night. It was all very precisely organized, and the most enjoyable carriage ride of my life.

We managed to keep Rilrae talking for a few hours every day. For the first time since we had met her there were no distractions, and the scenery became so monotonous that by the third day the girl herself was talking to ward off the boredom. Rilrae spoke of her family, her parents for the most part, and the tales she told made the trip anything but boring for Bao and myself. I had never heard even a whisper of things like the Unseen Guild, Kalamach Cin, nor how Kyrnos had become a part of the Province of Eisande. True, none of these things had anything to do with my activities in Terre d’Ange, yet I had spent months in the Palace. As anyone who has passed just a day in the Palace can tell you, the people there spend a great deal of time talking. Many of them are adept at talking about anything you can imagine, even the most taboo subjects can be flirted with extensively by those sophisticated courtiers.

This veil of secrecy was something more than what I had taken it for, and leads me to believe that there was more to ‘the Years of Joy’ than is known to us.

I carefully steered the conversation towards Rilrae’s mother, seeing that this relation was the true source of her angst. Bao helped, saying “This Sushulana does seem complicated, difficult to understand for people like us. There are ways to simplify her for us. For instance… her avocation, what does she _do_?”

“She teaches, and she is almighty good at it.” Rilrae admitted. “You might have gotten the impression that she is something of a war-monger, but I have seen her pass up several chances to get involved in a battle because it would have upset her lesson-plan.” Rilrae said that as if she had already forgotten that she herself was largely responsible for giving that impression, even calling Sushulana a “war-pig” in our presence. I let that go, and put my foot on Bao’s toes to make sure that he would as well.

  
“So, that’s her passion, but she’s not always peaceful about it. In addition to her own children and her tutelary for _other_ teachers, half the year she runs a small war-school the people designated to lead an Army, should Nova Angelica ever need one. If you want to hear a story about her, I have one for you that comes from that place;

“One day she comes home with her arm in a sling, and while Father was doing what he could to help her heal, she told us what happened. One of her students was allowing the other students to bully him. Sushulana hates bullies, violently, I think that might have something to do with why she is up north right now. Um… anyway, she went to the young man being bullied, instead of the ones that were pushing him around, and somehow she contrives to push him into having a duel with her. A practice session, dull wooden swords and all, but no padding. I forgot his name, but that guy must have been terrified, anyone would have been, but he still faced her. Maybe he was thinking of leaving the school and this would be a good way to do it.

“My mother, she said she was treating him as she would anyone else, but I heard that she was being theatrical and using this as a demonstration; exaggerated moves, talking to the audience the whole while. Yes, everyone at the school gathered ‘round, they didn’t want to miss this. Well, fear lends strength, and this guy gets inside her guard somehow, and hits hard enough to break her arm. People said they could hear the crack 20 paces away.”

“Tough way to lose a duel.” Bao ventured, starting to grin.

“That’s just it, she _didn't_  lose!” Rilrae huffed and slapped her hands to her knees. “Still had the other arm, didn't she? The theatrics were over and she went full-warrior. Two heartbeats later that student of her’s was flat on his back with a wrenched knee and a dislocated jaw. I don’t think that Mom or that guy could tell you exactly _how_  she did it, it happened that fast. So, it all worked out somehow; that guy was never bullied again, and my dear mother had her status as a near-goddess affirmed to one and all.” Rilrae did not sound jealous, just flat and empty. Bao’s grin was gone as Rilrae finished; “So… how does one deal with growing up under the same roof as someone like that?”

I fell back on my seat, and shook my head.

How indeed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who is sticking with this. I think we have covered enough of Rilrae's issues for now and next chapter will see us delving into some other things, such as the wilder side of Bhodistan and set everyone up for some serious conflicts.  
> Oh, never fear, there will be action, and much strangeness. I just wanted to give you all the full picture first.


	18. Chapter 18

19

 

 

Our race with the weather ended in a tie.

One the last day, the scenery began to change to something just a little less desolate, and we saw our first people going out and about. Spying them at a distance, I wondered aloud about our good fortune in not meeting any Bandits, and Rilrae echoed my relief. Bao had already inquired about that, and told us what he had found out; “They never worry about Bandits here. The dispatch riders have horses that are too fast for a stringy little outlaw pony to catch. Dispatch riders also come and go randomly, they have no set schedule. Our carriage is too fast as well, and if they tried to block the road and set a trap, one of those random dispatch riders would probably see them doing it before a carriage came along.”

“So, they never even try?”

“Keeping this road open is a matter of prestige. If any Bandits made a nuisance of themselves, half the Army would come out, and kill everything within a two-day journey of either side of the road.”

I hated hearing that. It was the kind of excessive threat that Rulers sometimes make, hoping they never have to carry it out, and inevitably trapping themselves into having to do so the moment the threat is issued. Since I was enjoying the benefits of that threat, there was nothing I could really say about it, then.

 

Clouds of deep blue and purple appeared on the horizon, growing in size as we raced towards them. Our ears popped and the dust seemed to fall from the air itself. By late afternoon it felt cooler than it had been at sunrise as the sun disappeared behind the towering clouds. The breeze in our faces felt more chilling than cooling to me, I could see rain falling from the clouds in the distance before I could see the river we were trying to reach. Blue and gray curtains of water sleeted down, looking for all the world like a dark waterfall that was miles across, and half a mile tall.

“Five months … of that?” I wondered aloud.

“So they say.” Rilrae sounded foolishly calm, soon we were under those very clouds. She was in the seat ahead of us, the one that faced backwards. She had reversed herself in that seat, peering forwards with her posterior jutting out at us. I was about to tell her to sit like a normal person when the carriage started to descend from a flat plateau, and she pointed at something ahead of us. “There it is!”

Indra’s River was directly ahead of us, broad and moving sluggishly. It was so shallow that we could see rocks and exposed riverbed to the right of us, and things looked only marginally better to our left, downstream. Also ahead of us was a ship that looked more like a fancy cake than a boat, and vastly larger than I had imagined.

First, understand that this River was so shallow that a tall man could walk from one bank to the other without getting his hair wet. Then imagine the surprise at seeing a “boat” standing three stories tall, and that appeared to be the size of a small city block. It never seemed that large on the inside, yet to us it appeared so enormous that we thought it must have run aground and been abandoned there. That misapprehension did not last long. Drawing closer, we could see people strolling about the railings of every floor. Some were looking at us, most had their eyes on the inky clouds that were now crowding overhead.

I felt the first drop of rain hit my forehead as I stepped down from the carriage, jolting me out of my fascination with the boat and focusing my attention on the long, rickety series of wooden planks that lead from shore to our boat. The curtain of rain was nearly upon us, and still… Bao and Rilrae found time to argue.

“Don’t you dare!” he hissed at her in d’Angeline as she reached for one of our trunks. “You failed at playing a servant, you must attempt to play the Lady.”

Instead of snapping at him, Rilrae groaned; “Isn’t there something in _between_?”

We dashed, carefully, along the bouncing boards. When we made it to the boat, half the people gathered along the railing applauded. I didn’t understand why they did that until I saw the men carrying our trunks come aboard, soaked to the skin despite being no more than two dozen heartbeats behind us. I later learned that there had been many wagers placed on the timing of our arrival, and I assume that the half of the crowd that didn’t applaud us had bet that we would arrive after the rains had wetted us down.

We were met by a dapper little man who insisted that we call him Mayur, which Rilrae later verified was a name that also means “Peacock” in Bhodistani. “And you are?…” He smiled as Rilrae and I flipped back our headscarves. “Ah, yes, the very ones we have been waiting for.” He turned to snap his fingers and nod to the sailors standing by on this deck of the boat. They were all dressed in immaculate white loincloths and turbans, and little else. Each man took up a pole and began pushing at the river bottom while somewhere at the far end of the ship the anchor was raised.

“ _the very ones we have been waiting for_ ” he had said. Rilrae was obvious to the meaning of that, while Bao and I glanced at each other a little wide-eyed. On Narinder’s word, this floating castle had been delayed for us by at least a full day. I had to wonder what sort of reception that would be getting us from the other passengers.

“I am the Chief Steward of the Reena Patai.” Mayur informed us, using a term I had not heard outside of a palace or a great villa. “I am responsible for your comfort and well-being on this journey. Would it please you to allow me to show you around my Reena?”

He had not yet mentioned our names or, thankfully, the deed that had brought us here. I tipped my head at Bao, and he introduced himself and the rest of us, calling Rilrae “our most promising student and a peer in her realm.” Mayer kept to his brand of courtesy by not asking which realm that might be, nor any other personal details about any of us. He began our tour of the 'Reena' at a shared nod from Bao and I.

The deck we were standing on was called the Water Deck, aptly so as it was only two hand-spans above the level of the water. The poles the crew were using formed the railing when not in use, a smart little detail that removed the obstruction to poling the boat and provided the tools to do so at the same time. The enclosed section of this deck was half taken up by a common room where the passengers took their meals, the rest of the interior was the kitchens and small compartments for the crew.

Above this was the Promenade Deck, completely encircled by a wide porch, fully roofed over and pleasantly dry. Fore and Aft were smaller common rooms, and between those were most of the passenger’s rooms.

Everything above was referred to as Topside, and there was not so much up there. The open walkways were only partially roofed over and the fore-end was reserved for the ship’s officers. At each end were covered platforms to allow the watches a better view. There were a few passenger rooms here, mainly for those whose lack of funds got them a smaller private space and an extra set of stairs to climb several times a day.

 _Our_ room, for example.

Mayur was apologetic as he opened the door for us. “Word of your arrival nearly caused us some embarrassment. We had to move some of our people around at the last moment. Later on, when some passengers have debarked, we will find something more adequate for you all.”

What he revealed to us was a cabin so narrow that Bao could touch each side with his fingertips if he stood in the middle and extended his arms outwards. On the left side was a tier of 3 bunk beds that were arranged with an outward slope, presumably to make them easier to get into. On the right was a writing desk, three narrow closets and a small curtained alcove for changing. The place smelled of the men that had recently been living here, and I was not happy with Rilrae when she dashed in and closed the only window. The rain had been coming in, but in doing so she had claimed the room for our little party.

Bao was underwhelmed. “And to think, I was afraid that we had used up too much of our luck by arriving ahead of the rain.”

“Well, at least its paid for.” Rilrae winked at me when I said that, and scrambled up to the top bunk, happily proclaiming it hers when she reached it.

“Which one of your trunks would you like brought up here?” Mayur asked.

I glanced around, and shrugged. “Where could it be put?”

Mayer stepped around me, long practice had given him the ability to pass through confined spaces without touching anything, or any person. He flipped up the bottom bunk to reveal a space just large enough to hold a truck snuggly. “There.”

“Well, that will be my bunk, then.” Bao said, and looked at Mayur, then the corridor we had just left. “Where ARE the rest of our trunks, and how will they be secured?”

Mayur did not bat an eye, calmly answering; “The excess luggage of every passenger is stored in the same place. The hull of the Reena is shallow, but there is room for a hold about _so_ high,” he held his hand out about a yard from the deck, “and the only access points can be seen by everyone aboard. Anyone trying to access the hold between ports is likely to loose a hand, and the hatches are so heavy that being a little careless is likely to cost them some fingers in any case. Shall we?” he beckoned to the stairwell leading back down to the other decks.

Down we went, and chose the truck with changes of clothes, our satchels and saddle-bags held everything else we would need. The rest were packed away down a hatch that was indeed heavy, just forward of the Common room on the main deck. Mayer had spoken truly, that hatch could be seen by anyone in the large room just behind it, and by anyone strolling about on the promenade, and the crewmen poling the boat were just a few paces away.

Satisfied, we followed Mayur to one last destination, the great room where dinner was being served. This was the grandest room on the ship, the grandest I have ever seen on anything afloat. Gossamer curtains and more of the elaborately carved wood gave it a look of luxury, and the whole place had more headroom than anywhere else on the ship thanks to a clever arrangement of the flooring. There was no hold beneath the deck here, instead there were three descending tiers that placed the central area lower than the surrounding floors. At the lowest level I could put my hand on the deck and feel the water rolling by underneath.

Everything in the room was white, as white as the porcelain dishes that were being served everywhere we looked. This, too, was a clever touch. Lamps were kept to a minimum on ships to reduce the hazard of fire, just a dozen were able to illuminate the whole place nicely. Even Rilrae was impressed. “So open… oh! Dozens of people, but there are no partitions.” She looked to Mayur. “The Castes mingle freely here?”

Mayer looked offended, and I think it would have been much worse had we not been so obviously foreign. “Heavens no! This conveyance is for the use of the Nobility and the Warrior Caste.” He squinted at us. “Narinder assured me-“

Bao clapped his hands together. “Narinder, of course!”

I did not understand right away, but Rilrae did, and laughed aloud. “He could have reserved any old boat, but he bid for  _this_  one, for people he will never see again.” She rolled her eyes at me. “This is his way of reminding us that his tall-tales were more true than not.”

“Ah.” I looked again at the luxury around us. If acceptance of his stories was what Narinder truly wanted, who was I to argue?

 

A setting was still available for us, and I later wondered if that corner was empty because people were reluctant to venture closer to a certain person that was seated nearby. At the time, I was looking at everyone that I could, meeting their looks and their curiosity in kind. They were a colorful crowd, all the more so since their clothing was the only real color in the room. Perhaps not the _only_  color, there were the dishes and the drinks and … and of course Rilrae, who stood out like a black pearl on a sunlit beach. It was not until we reached our seating area that I noticed her staring at someone, even more boldly than I had been looking at the people around us. I followed her gaze….

The man was obviously of the Nobility, large and well-formed without any trace of blemish or a hair out of place, wearing a russet coat decorated with green jewels. He was flanked by a pair of women that I barely noticed at the time, I paid very little attention to any other details in that moment. My attention was riveted to his eyes, and what I saw in those eyes, blacker than Rilrae’s black skin.

There was power in those eyes, a power I recognized as those eyes probed us, and grew wider as he comprehended us. Yes, he understood us very well before a single word passed between us. And now I understood why people recoiled from me when I _saw_ what was inside them, a glimpse of their past and clues to their present and future… why it was so uncomfortable for them.

I felt exactly the same way they had, because now it was being done to _me_ by this man.

The only consolation to me was one I would later regret, but all the same, I was able to breathe normally because his eyes were on Rilrae instead of me, and lingered there as he began to smile.

 

Thus it was that we met Shahrukh.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has been almost a month? I'm so sorry, my life really needs some structure to it.  
> Time to get busy.  
> And, if it is any consolation, this is starting to look like an even bigger book than the first one. Lets meet the major challenge I have for Bao & Moirin-

20

 

 

It would have been impossibly awkward for me, had it not been for Rilrae. Bao sensed what was wrong with me thanks to our shared _diadh-anam_ , while Rilrae chattered away in her beautiful ignorance.

I did my best to tolerate Shahrukh’s probing gaze, and fortunately there were no probing questions. I would not have been able to deal with them very well, we were tired from our seventh day in that carriage. Tired… excepting Rilrae, and she truly did a beautiful job of distracting that man’ attention from Bao and I. His companions were also distracted; a pale and willowy woman named Dipti and a darker, older one named Kalpana… and by older, I mean my own age rather than a teen-aged girl.

I was growing a little tired of teen-aged girls.

I also can’t clearly recall the conversation, all I remember is that I took little part in it. After such a long and eventful day and the shock of Shahrukh, the act of feeding myself reduced me to the state of a lizard basking in the sun with a full belly. I did not even remember going back to our room, and yet there I awoke the next day wrapped around Bao on the lower bunk. Rilrae, naturally, was not in the room.

Bao and I were out the door as soon as we donned a fresh set of clothes and we were able to verbally confirm what we had felt about that man.

“What does he know about us, exactly? How does that whole thing _work_?”

“Strangely.” I admitted. “I have never been schooled in how it works, and it is hardly under my control. Sometimes it comes unbidden and sometimes I can call it up. It always comes and goes quickly, and sometimes it is just a glimpse of the past…. and Gods help me ,Bao, sometimes it is like being there! Every once in a while, I see the future. No…” I shook my head, hastening to amend that, “… I sometimes see a possible path. Something that might happen if things don’t change.” I finished pinning my sari in place and noticed him looking at me with a particular intensity. “What is it?”

“Moirin, do you mean that you have the gift that lead to something awful for you … the kind of thing that _killed_  the Mowren of one hundred years ago?”

“No!” It couldn’t be that, could it? The great seers of old had needed stone circles, rituals, and tutoring that I’d never had. “Nothing so grand, I’m afraid.”

Bao flipped from concerned for my life to a care-free and hearty laugh. “Beloved, your modesty is shocking to me, at times. It makes you a wonderful wife, but it also blinds you to certain possibilities.” He put an arm around me and opened the door. “Does it never occur to you that the Great Bear is returning a gift to your people, through you?”

A heady though, and a trifle ridiculous to me at the time. If something so grand and portentous were to be restored to our people, it should have been given to someone like Nemed, not someone who had been sent out across the oceans far from all the rest of her people. “Not so much a gift, considering what errors it can lead to.”

“So, that leads to the real question here.” Bao switched to d’Angeline, we had slept late and many people were walking off they breakfast on the promenades and in the halls. “What errors could it lead Shahrukh to make?”

“No telling. Rilrae must have noticed how disturbed I was by him, she did a magnificent job of distracting him from us.”

“Are you sure of that? Could that man be more interested in her than he is in us?”

That did not sound plausible to me. “This is why you wanted me to tell you what he might have seen? Very well, he would have seen the truth.” We had descended to the 2nd deck and strolled to the fore end, I leaned on the railing and watched the next wave of rainfall approaching us. “In me, he would have seen a Bear Witch from far-away Alba, how exotic it must seem in this place. Ah, and according to you I am the new hope for my mysterious folk, aye? In you, the twice-born peasant-princeling that has been the chosen of the legendary Master Lo-Feng as well as myself… for somewhat different reasons.” I shrugged, and continued without the sarcasm. “And Rilrae? Unless her life is more difficult to read than ours, she can be seen to have an incredibly peculiar parentage … but what else? She has no particularly outstanding abilities, and her own history features no great accomplishments. Nothing that didn’t depend on an ability that she no longer has.”

“Her parents are the rulers of a vast realm.” Bao reminded me. Music was coming from the Water Deck, the endless twang of a Sitar.

“Vast in size, I have the impression that it is small in population as well as wealth. What are you thinking? Ransom, leverage perhaps? No, if he knows of her heritage, he also caught a glimpse of her parents. I can’t imagine anyone that I would dread more, as enemies.”

Bao sighed, and grinned at me. “I think you are overlooking the most basic things. We are a married couple, and Rilrae is exceptionally attractive and unattached.”

I laughed at the direction Bao was taking this. “Shahrukh already has a pair of women with him that were obviously chosen for their beauty and willingness to give him companionship. What need would he have of a third?”

Now it was Bao’s turn to laugh.

It was true that I did not understand as much as I should about men yet, not the sort that would keep multiple women with him for recreational purposes. For such a man, three could only be better than two.

The music from below changed from the languorous notes of a Sitar to a more lively beat of drums and cymbals. Bao stepped over the railing and hooked his feet into the latticework so that he could lean out and downwards far enough to see what way happening beneath us. I heard gasps from other people on the promenade, I was a little worried myself at the way Bao was trusting his life to some bits of decorative wood, but he soon pulled himself back up onto the railing and returned to my side with one smooth movement.

“As I thought. Rilrae is down there, dancing.”

We descended another set of stairs to find her dancing with Dipti, while Kalpana tapped out a rhythm on a pair of drums and stroking a row of cymbals at the same time with her bare feet. Dipti’s name meant ‘brightness’, and she lived up to it. Her Sari was white with a warm yellow trim, and her hair was bound up to show her classically delicate face. Rilrae clashed with her in every way, wearing a red halter-top and brief skirt. She had also found a red & gold kerchief to tie over her head that hid her ears and covered some of her hair, yet the greatest contrast between her and the other girl was the way they moved. Dipti moved elegantly, like a Willow tree in the wind, and paying as little attention to her dance partner as a tree might. Rilrae was primal, exuding heat as she wound her way around Dipti with eyes wide open and fixed on her or Kalpana the whole time. Kalpana’s name is difficult to translate accurately, the closest I can come is a compromise between ‘fantasy’ and ‘dream’. Whatever the case, she was doing a masterful job of accompanying the dancers when we arrived. Each hand tapped out a rhythm for each of the dancers, independently of each other, while her toes stroked the cymbals.

It was a beautiful thing to watch, and dozens of people had gathered to enjoy the scene. The dance itself could have been clumsy and barbaric had Dipti behaved stiffly or Rilrae overstepped, or Kalpana’s music led either of them astray. None of those things happened, and this impromptu performance was one of those moments that would make the journey memorable for all who saw it. The backdrop of purple-black clouds and rainfall contrasted with the dancers even more greatly then they did with each other.

My thoughts were turbulent. How had these women come to such an understanding so quickly? What had I missed the evening before? Why had I never danced with Rilrae like that…?

Shahrukh was there, standing behind Kalpana close enough to touch her and making a point of not doing so. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he smiled at the dancers as if he were entertained by them, but not _quite_ enthralled. If they had been looking at him, they might have been urged to some greater effort. Neither of them were, nobody there was, except Bao and myself. He drew our attention away from the beauty on display the way a Tiger skulking around a perfumed jungle would draw the eye.

He met our eyes and bowed to the inevitable right away. He nodded to the lounge as we approached him. “We need to talk, yes?”

 

It was easier said than accomplished. The lounge was occupied by people that wanted to do the same thing we wanted to do; talk inside while watching the dancers at the same time. I also wanted to do more than talk. I brushed up against Shahrukh as we stepped around knots of people milling about and attempted to ‘see’ his past, or whatever I could glean from him.

For the first time in my life, I saw nothing.

Nothing at all, just a grey mist, and the man himself smiling at me as if he knew I had failed. Fear gripped me, fear that the Great Bear had taken that gift from me. Had I overstepped? Had I done something else to dispose her? Had I neglected something?

The next thought was less terrifying and more immediately dangerous; was Shahrukh able to block my visions?

He found us a place where we could converse, but we would have to keep our voices low if we did not want to be overheard. It would have been far less crowded had tables and chairs been in use here, the Bhodistani upper-class propensity for laying about on or near the floor takes up a great deal of space. Shahrukh’s eyes flitted back and forth between us, and settled on Bao when he asked; “Who _are_ you people?”

“Oh, I think you have a very good idea of who we are.” Bao was at his hard-nosed best, here. “And we would prefer not to be burdened with any fame while we are here. The question is, who are _you_ , and why are you and your girls so interested in our Rilrae?”

Rather than deny anything, Shahrukh leaned back and put his fingertips together, smiling gently. “Who would not be? She is fascinating and out-going, and she friendly with ‘my girls’, as you put it. Dipti and Kalpana don’t often meet people willing to be friendly to them for its own sake. It is a new thing for them to meet kindly foreigners that are not angling at dragging them straight off to bed.” He had neatly put us on the defensive, but instead of pressing whatever advantage he thought he had, he said this instead; “I wanted to meet with you to clarify certain things about her. Rilrae claims that she is a free women, and yet she insists that she will travel with you wherever that takes her, and she is loyal. That girl reacts to even the most subtle criticism of you both instantly and firmly. What exactly  _is_ the nature of her relationship with you?”

I smiled back at him, and it was genuine. Whatever he had seen in us, it must have been an incomplete vision. “I suggest you ask her yourself, and take her at her word.”

Bao nodded, but Shahrukh merely shrugged. “I have, and it was the one subject where she was evasive… in even the slightest way. As best as I can see it, she considers you to be her Gurus. Are you familiar with that word?”

I proved that I was by letting out a low groan.

Shahrukh dropped his hands into his lap, and turned his head to watch the dancers. Something about his demeanor suggested that he was having second thoughts about becoming involved in our situation. “Oh… I see. Well, be that as it may, I will only be on this ship for a little more than halfway to where you are leaving it. That still means we will be sharing this boat for a couple of weeks, I suggest that we keep things on a friendly level, and follow the girls’s lead in this. If you were of our own culture there would be no need to set rules or boundaries, yet Rilrae has made it abundantly clear that this is not the case. What are the rules where you are from?”

Now that was a complicated question. The three of us were all ‘from’ very different places, all Rilrae and I had in common were the social norms of Terre d’Ange … which held that in this situation there was only one rule; love as thou whilst…. not terribly helpful here and now. “Why don’t we stay with common courtesy and mutual respect?”

  
The conversation turned banal at that point. Shahrukh hailed from the uplands west of the river, and his ancient family had become peers centuries before through their civilizing influence on that region. Quietly, he confided that it was their vast herds of livestock that had motivated his ancestors to ‘civilize’ the local tribes and dissuade them from their traditions of Banditry. While we talked, and slowly found Shahrukh acceptable, our eyes drifted back to the dancers. Rain had begun to fall, pushed by the wind onto the part of the deck where Dipti and Rilrae were dancing. Kalpana cleverly quickened the beat, daring the dancers to match the tempo on the slick wooden planking. The tall, pale woman transformed into a whirling blur that darted about, moving to trap Rilrae against the railing. Rilrae responded with evasions that included a backward arc that delighted the onlookers. No doubt, they were even more delighted by the way the rain was making their costumes cling to their bodies. When Kalpana ended the music they hugged and strolled away together, laughing as they headed for a changing room reserved for women.

I was doubly glad that they did not notice us, both for the fact that they would have a reason to dance for us again sometime later… and that Rilrae did not see us talking to Sharukh. It would not have required much on Rilrae’s part to realize we had been talking about HER.

As for Shahrukh himself, we decided to wait and see what sort of person he would reveal himself to be.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have really got to get back to this in a serious way, too much time is passing and my muse is slipping away.  
> Remind my with a comment or something if I ever let this much time pass again, really starting to feel stupid here...

21

 

 

“HELP ME!”

  
There are more pleasant ways to wake up in the middle of the night. Surely, there must be ways that are less jarring than having someone shout into your dreams, making you bolt upright and banging your head into that of your lover as he suffers the identical reaction while laying in your embrace.

It was also a very effective way of communicating distress; Rilrae was in trouble, and she was in Shahrukh’s hands.

For the previous week, she had been dividing her time almost equally between us. The quality of the time she spent with Bao and I declined as the nights she spent with Shahrukh and his girls grew increasingly energetic and decadent. We should have objected more strongly, I knew that while it was happening. We did not stop her, we could only advise her in a limited manner about the limitations of what ‘love as thou wilt’ really meant. It did not mean lust, for example. To be sure, it was a pleasant change to have a languorous and pliant Rilrae to deal with by day, and a cabin to ourselves by night. Our charge was also perfectly well-behaved in all other ways, keeping her debauchery behind closed doors and doing a better job of imitating the manners of a woman of Bhodistan than I was myself. So it was that we only realized how foolish we had been when it was nearly too late to help her.  
Nearly, but not quite.

The Gods smiled on us in that moment, Rilrae’s peril was taking place on the same side of the Boat that our room was on.

Bao has been compared to lightning by virtue of how he moves, and he certainly proved it that night. He bounded out of the bunk and kicked out the latticework that covered our window. “Your bow!” was all he said to me before he slipped out the window without reaching for his staff. I nearly shouted after him, and I would have stopped him had I been quicker. There was violence waiting down there for us, we could both feel it… yet the path he took was straight to it. several floors straight down!

In truly violent situations my best aid could be given with my bow, and in the space of four heartbeats I had pulled my shift back up to my shoulders, strung my bow and started leaning out the window. Two more heartbeats were lost as I discovered why Bao had left his staff behind; the window was too narrow to allow allow me to shoot through it. I had to angle the bow to put it completely outside, lean out the window and expose myself from the waist up to bring my weapon to bear.

Bao had slowed his fall by briefly grabbing at wooden fixtures on the way down, and broken it entirely by landing on the shoulders of a burly thug. That man’s collarbones had been broken, putting him out of the fight. Bao may have landed naked and unarmed, but he armed himself quickly by snatching up one of the poles from the railing of the water deck. This piece of wood was more than twice the length of his own staff, Bao solved that problem by snapping it in two with a firm kick. He threw one half at Shahrukh, and rolled along the deck while snatching up the other half to use as he would his own staff.

This was only a small part of the scene below me.

A broad, flat-bottomed boat had pulled up alongside ours. It was too large to be a skiff, and too small to be what you could call a Barge. Aboard it were four more men at each corner with poles, just enough to maneuver their boat, and another standing near Shahrukh with a cudgel in his hand. Rilrae was in the middle of the boat, being held by Dipti and Kalpana. I couldn’t fathom _how_  they were controlling her until I saw how she was wrapped in her Sari. It had been arranged to pin her arms and her upper legs in a tight cocoon, and those yards of silk were more than strong enough to contain her strong limbs. She had also been gagged with her own hair, much of which had been shoved rudely into her mouth.

Shahrukh stood foremost to confront Bao, blocking his access to the smaller boat. He was unarmed and contemptuous of Bao’s attack. I saw him slap the thrown half of Bao's pole aside, and how he paid no mind to the fact that the jagged end impaled the brute standing next to him. Shahrukh stepped forward to accept a flurry of blows with his forearms. I could only see the top of his head, but I felt that he must ben grinning at Bao and ready to take advantage of any mistake Bao made.

The shared diadh-anam also told me that Bao was very disconcerted at the way Shahrukh was absorbing the punishment his arms were being given, and the stance this supposed noblemen was taking.

That was all I needed to know. I let lose an arrow, straight down at that turbaned head.

 _Thock_!

It sounded as if I had hit a knot of hardwood, and my arrow only sank half an inch deep into the skull of that man, as indeed it would have if that head had been made of solid wood. Shahrukh took and involuntary step back, looking up at me with my arrow sticking up out of the top of his head. His exclamation of pain become a roar that was far too loud, far too MUCH, to come from a human mouth. And as I had feared that it could, his mouth distended, growing twice, then thrice the size of what any human mouth could be. That mouth was lined with long, jagged teeth.

Fear gripped me, it took hold of all of us with just one exception. My reaction was to nock another arrow and try my best to kill that thing that Shahrukh truly was before he could kill me. I fired it straight at his gaping maw.

In tales of old, that would have been the end of him, my arrow would have pierced the roof of his mouth and scrambled his brains. Instead, my poor arrow, no doubt thrown off by my shaky breathing, struck one of the tusks growing from that mouth, and glanced off.

Thankfully, it did manage to break that tooth.

The thing that was Shahrukh reacted as anyone else would in this case. His roar became a squeal of agony and he clapped his hands to his mouth, eyes shut tight. It was easy for Bao to slip his staff between Shahrukh’s legs and flip him to the deck, where he continued to writhe in pain.

Before my second arrow had found it’s mark, Rilrae made her own move. She had been able to free the fingers of one hand, and hike up the wrappings around her legs a little. That little bit was enough to allow her to stomp down on one of Dipti’s feet, breaking many of the bones. Rilrae brought her leg up and shoved Kalpana away, upending the woman and dropping her flat on her face. Bao met Rilrae's mincing steps and hauled her back aboard the Reena.

The four men remaining were undecided, they must have been shocked to see Shahrukh in such a state, dropping their poles was a risky proposition. The Reena had anchored for the night as it was too dark to navigate down the river on a cloudy and rainy night. They had to strain to hold position against the current, if any one of them joined the fight the their boat would start to drift.

I pulled back on my bow a third time, and heard myself hissing at them over the creak of the wood bending and the string drawing tight.

It was Kalpana that decided them. “Go! Go go, _away_!” she bawled out as she crawled to Shahrukh’s side.

“Yes, go away!” I shouted at them, a bit louder than I would have wanted to. My heart was pounding and my arms were shaking, I hope I was able to sound fierce rather than desperate. A desperate gamble it had been, and I was counting on the rain in their faces and the dim light. I held the string back until they poled far enough away, and then relaxed my draw on a bow for which I had no arrows left at all.

I had only been able to salvage three arrows from our fight in the mountains, and the fletching on one had been ruined in our travels. A shocking lapse on my part, not acquiring more in that fabulous city we had spent a full day inside. I was still chiding myself for that when I heard voices from below, loud and strident. It was Bao, arguing with someone that sounded like Mayur. The later was wheedling and apologetic, and I could imagine him confronted by Bao’s lean and powerful body and the freshly rescued Rilrae.

I pulled myself back inside and pulled the wet shift off my body and, after a glance at my own sari, I put on one of Bao’s vests and a short skirt. Fluffing out a couple of towels was all I had time for before the door opened.

“The best thing you can do is go away, quietly, and make certain that nobody at all bothers us until morning.” Bao said over his shoulder to Mayur as he opened the door, propelled Rilrae inside and shut it behind them.

Rilrae had been un-gagged and the sari had been hiked indecently high to allow her to walk, but otherwise she was still bound tightly.

I handed one towel to Bao and used the other to dry his back while he took care of his front. Rilrae waited patiently for her turn, for all of ten heartbeats. She leaned towards the window to look outside, there was nothing that she could possibly see out there, and then shook her head as she turned back to us. “That was… _awesome_ , to see you both in action like that. I mean, really-“

I backhanded her across the face before I was truly aware of what I was doing, but it still felt good to do it.

“… what?…” she sputtered.

“Reflex.” I answered, moving around behind her now, and looking over the Sari that held her arms in place at her sides. "Maybe it will help bring your mind around to the here and now."

“But-“

Bao slapped her next. “Consider that payment in advance for what your mother is likely to give _us_ when she finds out about this.”

She imedialty appeared to forget that we had slapped both sides of her face, in fact Rilrae never brought it up again. “No, no… _she_ doesn’t ever have to hear about this.” I felt her shiver. “Does she?”

“Your father may already know.” I worked at the knots, and I needed help from Bao it work the damp silk free. There was also a long needle that had pierced the girl’s skin, something she didn’t mention even as we pulled it free. “And it is time for you to be a little more truthful with us, dear one.” My words were heavy with sarcasm as we pulled the Sari off of her . Bao and I didn’t give her a chance to flex her arms, we backed her up against the wall and closed in on her. I put one hand under her chin to ensure that she could not look away, the way we were pressed close to her bared body was anything but sensual.

“We were asleep when you spoke to us.” Bao grated through clenched teeth. “When were you going to tell us that you have you Dream-speaking ability back?”

Despite her predicament, Rilrae was briefly elated. “It worked?!” Here eyes flickered between us, and she lost her joy. “What, you don’t think … that-“

“That you were able to get it back with Shahrukh’s help and guidance during your dalliances with him?” Bao rolled his eyes. “Now that you mention it, _yes_ , that has occurred to us!”

Rilrae would have cringed if she had room, and she did try to look away until I gave her shin a firm shake. “No! I didn’t, not with him! He liked to watch while… Kalpana and I… he did all sorts of things with them both while I watched but he never touched me much. I think he was waiting for me to ask-“

“ _Rilrae_ , thats not what we meant!” I did blink and pull back a little, suddenly curious about this trivial item. “But ... what happened to ‘ewww’?”

Bao huffed, and Rilrae answered; “Yeah, well, that seemed to make everyone mad at me, so I thought I had better give it a try. They are very good, and now I won’t be so … and that wasn’t what I meant anyway and I explained that to you so-“

“Stop.” Bao eased up on the pressure he was putting on her as well. “Back up. When and how did you regain your dream-telepathy?” He glanced at me. “Is that the right word?”

I nodded. I shifted my hand to the side of Rilrae’s face and said more gently; “What happened, exactly?”

She stammered her way through her story, and her many little hesitations were not evasive. Rilrae was sorting it out as she went through it, and she was clinging to us before she was done.

 

It has started out as a game, one that both of the other girls had played the leading roll in. If she wanted to be part of the fun little group, Rilrae had to take her turn. She had actually allowed them to wrap her up like that, the pin gouging her back had been her first hint that things were not going the same way it had for Dipti or Kalpana. She had been gaged with her own hair when she started to yell, and she had been too surprised to fight back when Shahrukh had begun to man-handle her. Unable to do anything else, she reached deep inside herself, and to us.

“I didn’t even know if it worked, it felt like I had it for just a heartbeat, and then it was gone again.” Rilrae was telling the truth; she had regained something just long enough to realize how precious it was to her, and then lost it again. She started to weep, for that and also reacting to what had just happened to her… the dawning realization of what had _nearly_ happened to her. “He …. he was …. he was….”

“A Rakshasa.” I finished for her.

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a quickie for now, trying to get back into the habit of regular posting.

22

 

 

 

Shahrukh had lied about everything, including the very existence of any estates that he had described. Everyone else on that ludicrous boat, native Bhodistani one and all, had known he was not what he pretended to be. Some of them had even suspected that there was something more deeply wrong with him, and yet not a single one of them had said a word to us about this.

Rilrae and I were of one mind; this was outrageous and we should spend the rest of the journey repaying their inconsiderate ways. Bao brought us back down to Earth before we could even get started with that; “Would the peers of Terre d’Ange have gone out of their way to warn a party of visiting Skaldi of something they were not sure of?”

He had a point, and not only because he had said “peers”. D’Angeline pride could be a wicked thing, and our anger was no help in this situation. We were alone among strangers, again, and the only real difference was that there were three of us instead of just two this time. Rilrae was more help than we could have expected of her in this situation. Everyone on the ship had heard some version of what had happened by the time the sun was up, we never had our own chance to explain what happened. We never wanted to.

Rilrae had gone from being frivolous and hedonistic to cool and reserved overnight, as far as our fellow travelers could see. What they didn’t see was how we had spent the night hugging and soothing her. There was nothing sexual about our relation with her now, she spent the remainder of our time together avoiding that sort of thing. Reliving what she has done with that strange trio left her shaken, and different. I would not go so far as to say it had matured her, but it had changed her, and anyone could see it. She kept her distance, even from the fawning Mayur who could have refused her nothing.

 

Three weeks of traveling with people we could not trust or like would seem to be a purgatory of sorts, but luxury is a balm that has few equals. We were soon moved to better rooms, Mayur made certain that we were never disturbed by the curious, and the next few weeks passed pleasantly enough. The rains were still falling when we reached the coast, more strongly than ever. Here the humidity was so bad that lamps and braziers were lit inside the boat to dry things out a little, despite the heat it was a welcome thing on some days. The sun was not welcome, all it did was bake the surface and bring even more moisture up from the ground.

The mouth of the river was a complex series of forks and isles that no stranger could have navigated successfully. Our cake-shaped boat found its way to a port that stretched along a muddy embankment for as far as the eye could see, and we left Mayur with assurances that no unhappy messages would be reaching Narinder regarding the incident with the Rakshasa on is watch. He was so relived that he sent us off with a local boy who would show us to the best ship for our journey to Galanka. We left the Reena without looking back. Bellies full, bodies relaxed and comfortable, and our minds well-rested, we were still glad to leave it behind.

Ahead of us was a ship that we could understand as such; sleek, high at each end and broad in the middle. Here, at last, was a vessel made for movement.

Even Rilrae approved, smiling at the ‘Chandor’s Spear’ as we approached an negotiated our passage. She had been in a bit of a depression in the last days on the River, trying and failing to regain her Dreamspeaker abilities on her own. Bao and I had no way to help, nobody we knew of could have been any assistance to her with this unique talent. We simply assumed that it would require some sort of outside stimulus, and prayed that something less traumatic than Shahrukh would cross our path, eventually.

 

There was no way we could send advance warning ahead to Galanka. We continued to travel by the fastest means available to us, and there was nothing like the Bird-Post here in Bhodistan. The weeks on the ship were also blissfully uneventful as our ship pounded its way southwards and into the path of the incoming rains. It was a journey that ranked somewhere between passe' and miserable, as we were never in calm weather but also never in a storm worthy of any drama. The only thing about this passage that stands out in my mind is how Rilrae joined in with the hard-working crew. It started when we observed one of the men in the masts nearly fall to his death. He ended up hanging by one foot from a tangle of ropes in the highest mast, and Bao and Rilrae scrambled up to aid him. The crew were all amazed at the display of speed and strength they displayed… and the fact that “landlubbers” had actually known what to do.

And not the least, because a _woman_  had taken a hand in such dangerous work.

Rilrae had not yet become the acrobat of Bao’s class, but she was learning, and she had no fear of high places at all. We were both inordinately proud when Rilrae volunteered to take a 4-hour shift every day, scrambling about in the rigging or lending her strength to hauling the ropes. She avoided any social complications by pretending not to notice any of the crews advances, and always returning to our cabin when the work was done. The Captain’s gratitude for her help, and for the saving of one of his men, was effusive yet limited. He gave us his own cabin and refunded Rilrae’s third of the cost of our passage.

At the end of our journey, our ship turned up a deep Gulf in the coastline that narrowed quickly. I say quickly because with the wind at our backs our ship ceased its bucking and shot forward like a horse released from its harness. In an afternoon we made more progress than than the last four days of tacking into the wind, and that evening we beheld Galanka for the first time.

 

 

A city of lights is what we saw, the sun set behind a rare break in the clouds and full darkness took over the landscape with tropical suddenness. Lamps seemed to be lit everywhere, some were moving, giving the scene something of the look of a field of fireflies. A flat city, the closer we drew the less we could see of it. Only the waterfront was clear to us when we disembarked.

As soon as we we on shore, Rilrae’s head came up and she turned around. She was very still for a moment as she looked out at the ocean. “It was too easy, wasn’t it?”

  
Bao and I looked at each other. He nodded, and I said; “You mean the Rakshasa, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

We had not spoken of Shahrukh since that night.

Bao sighed and stepped up behind her. “If you really think he might try again-“

“Him, or another. If there are so many, surely there must be a few in a city like this.”

“Please, don’t start with that!” My worst nightmare, _redux_.

Rilrae turned and faced me. “Start? This is your last stop in this land. You really don’t have to go any farther here, send a package to a certain house, board another of these ships headed west, and you are done. And you know, it is all very well and good that you do so. You must go on. I … have the feeling that this place isn’t done with me yet.” She seemed dreamy, distant, and she frightened me all the more for being so calm. “Something here hasn’t even _started_  with me, I think.”


	22. Chapter 22

23

 

 

We did not go to the palace straight away. That would not have suited us, and would have thrown any household into chaos.

Instead we made a late arrival at one of the Inns, who’s business it _was_ to deal with late travelers, and we sent a message to the palace. This message had been written by Rani Amrita, with a short note from us atatched. Judging from the weight of the case containing it, this was a long scroll, likely to be filled with accounts of what had happened in the last few seasons, her introduction of us to her family, and many personal missives for them all. Giving them time to absorb all of that without having to worry about hosting us as well was simply good manners.

It also gave us time to bathe, regain our land-legs, and relax for a few hours. The rain remained constant, and the relief it brought from the heat was balanced by the increasing mustiness that permeated everything. The people at this latitude were accustomed to the heat, the slight chill in the air that this season brought caused many of them to huddle about the fires that Bao and I found unbearable.

The next morning we were attired in clothes that were relatively fresh as we waited for our summons to meet the Rani’s family. I had spent a good many hours wondering what they would be like, and how I should conduct myself … and this lead to a swirling thought-pattern racing around in my head that could have left me in a bad frame of mind when we finally arrived at the palace.

Rilrae saved me from that by asking a question; “You have both traveled high and low roads, how do they compare? What I mean is…. since I met you, we have traveled from a palace in one nice city to another palace in another nice city. In between we have stopped at a fabulous temple, a very rich man’s home, and a floating palace the likes of which none of us ever imagined. But, before that, you experienced the back-country of Ch’in, Tatar lands and the hind-end of Vralia. How do they compare? How do the freedoms and privations of one compare to the the ease and the visibility of the other?” She fumbled with the wording a little more, but her meaning was clear. Rilrae intended to do more traveling in her life… unlike Bao and I, and was asking for advice. She was measuring the benefits and problems of avoiding places of power and comfort.

We had no answer for her, not at that moment, but the question did a fine job of distracting me and putting us in a sharper frame of mind for the next few hours.

A liter was sent for us, just one for the three of us and our luggage. It was large enough to do so, carried by no less than twenty men plus one to guide them. The guide walked at the front, holding a staff topped with the emblem of the great House framed with red feathers, so that the liter-bearers to the rear would have some warning of any change in direction. The men were no slaves, each was armed with a Talwar and had a small shield buckled to his hip.

“They competed for the honor of bringing you to our home.” The scion of Galanka, a fellow named Abhay who was Bao’s age, walked at our side wearing a kilt and turban similar to what his men wore. He had not bothered to arm himself, and why should he? With twenty-one armed men who seemed only lightly encumbered by our liter, any further escort would have appeared to be ostentatious, and somewhat paranoid.

Abhay also wore fine boots and a vest of white leather. After giving us time to sleep late, he seemed eager to bring us to his home as quickly as he could. Introductions were made as our belongings and our selves were loaded into the liter, and our conversation was made on the move. His gaze, when it lingered, was on me rather than Rilrae. We had entered a part of Bhodistan where her appearance was less exotic than my own, I surmised. The common folk did seem darker-skinned here, some were a lovely shade of deepest brown that must have been similar to the way Phe'dre no Delauney had described her own eyes.

The bustle of the city was also in full swing, giving us another glimpse of how people lived in crowded, sweltering Bhodistan. The three of us exchanged glances, Rilrae raising an eyebrow in a needless reminder of her question.

“Your message caused a bit of a stir last night, and kept us all awake a good while,” Abhay informed us, with a wink and a smile. “May the Gods bless you for bringing something of interest to our humble land, at long last. And _thank_  you, for having the grace to give us time to arrange a proper welcome.”

When he looked away, Bao took my hand and I leaned into his shoulder, feeling pleased with ourselves. We had come a long way from the backwoods hermit’s daughter I had once been, and the street-toughened criminal he had once been.

Who could say, perhaps we would be greeted in the palace of the Courcels with such warmth, some day.

The people of Bhodistan like to build vast, rambling structures, and this palace was no exception. We were more used to the geometrically precise gaudiness that characterized Bhodistani architecture, but it was still a lovely thing to see. Every large thing was made of countless little things… yet another thing to ponder on a calmer day.

 

Abhay held out a had to help me dismount inside and inner courtyard, and then introduced us to the rest of his family. Madhava was the patriarch, elderly and gone somewhat corpulent. For him, it made him appear to be all the more jolly. His Wife Chetana stood by his side, and I could see just enough of Amrita in her to make me swallow hard. There was also Purnima, a baby sister so young that Amrita had never met her. As it turned out, Abhay was the only precious son, three of his sisters were not present as they had already been married off. I blinked quickly as Bao helped Rilrae down and Madhava took a step forward.

“You wonderful people have brought us joy enough to keep us smiling for years already. Not merely by bringing our daughter’s words to us, but what they have told us. She made it clear that she could not have brought the Falconer and his Queen down without you. Given all that, I hesitate to ask for more, but…. do you _have_ it? With you _now_ , I mean to say…”

He was asking for something of the material sort, and it was easy to forgive his eagerness.

“I have it.” Bao said calmly, not quite smugly, as he drew a fist-sized package from a hidden pocket in his trousers, and handed it over with a formal flourish. Madhava peeked inside and sighed in relief before snapping his fingers to summon a trio of warriors dressed in black and armed to the teeth. He handed the package off to them and looked up at us with relieved eyes as they hurried away with it.

“We had hardly dared to believe… oh, _she_ did not know?” Madhava was looking at Rilrae when he asked that. She was the only one among us that had flinched when the warriors had come forward, and now wore a puzzled expression.

“Didn’t know _what_?” Rilrae asked in d’Angeline.

Bao turned to her, and let his smugness out for just a moment. “That we were also carrying the Phoenix Stone of Chodur to the Rani Amrita’s family, so that they might have the honor and prestige that goes with returning it to it’s rightful owners.”

He was referring to the huge ruby that we had found discarded in one of the Spider Queen’s coffers. It was something that she had sent murderers out to obtain, toyed with for a while, and then set aside. It was easily worth as much as everything else we had found in Kurugiri combined, with the exception of the Black Diamond, and the Rani had asked us to make a present of it to her family. It went without saying that they would soon return it to the people of Chodur, partly for the joy of doing so, and partly for the reason that Bao had said. A new alliance could be forged in this one, simple delivery.

Rilrae shook her head, her lips curling back from her teeth unpleasantly. “I should have known there was something extravagant about your codpiece, even by your standards…” Her eyes went wide and she slapped her hand to her mouth. “Shahrukh! If he had found out-“

“Hush now.” I put my arm around her shoulders, encouraging her to move forward. “You understood why we kept it from you quickly enough, lets not bring it up again, agreed?”

She nodded, and did her best to summon a smile as she dropped her hand. I dropped my arm as soon as Rilrae found her sense of balance again, and found myself enfolded by Chetana’s elegant embrace. Madhava escorted Bao, while Abhay and Purnima surrounded Rilrae. This warm little family escorted us into their home in this way, and in a flash of intuition I understood something. They would have treated us the same way if their home had been a shanty in the poor side of town. or the upper floor of a merchant’s shop.

This was my first hint that that the people who had raised Amrita would more than meet my expectations of them.

 

Chetana was a bit wane, and was leaning on me after we had climbed two sets of stairs to the grand parlor. I later learned that she had given birth to eight children, only five of whom still lived. What had weighed most heavily on her mind was the fate of Amrita, ruling alone and raising a son in Bhaktipur. She whispered to me, nearly out of breath; “Are things really as good as she promises? Is she truly well and happy now?”

I smiled, just thinking of her made me do that. “I was fortunate enough to spend more than half a year as your daughter’s guest, and many wonderful things happened while we were there. I don’t know what she wrote, but I doubt she would have had any reason to exaggerate anything to make it seem better than it was.”

Chetana smiled in return, and petted my hand. I helped her sit as surreptitiously as I could when we reached a circular depression in the floor that was much like what Narinder’s house had featured. This one was larger, so large that a trio of servants were always on hand, as we were sitting just far apart from each other than simply handing things back and forth among ourselves would have required us to rise from the cushions constantly.

I sat at Chetana’s side at her bidding, as Bao had already done with Madhava. Rilrae was still flanked by Abhay and his sister. Purnima had seemed shy at first, a notion dispelled for the moment by her fascination with Rilrae. Her good manners made it impossible for Rilrae to take offense, and for the first time since Shahrukh’s attempt to kidnap her, I saw Rilrae being courteous to a woman that was not myself.

We were gently feted with light refreshments and a recounting of what Amrita’s message had told them. One thing that caused considerable curiosity was the speed with which we had traveled. “No one else has ever reached Galanka coming from Bhaktipur so early in the year. Did the passes thaw out early this year?”

And so it was that we learned that the Rani had not included anything about Merrin or Phaing in her letter to her family. Unfortunately, this small detail had slipped her mind, and ours as well. The Rani had been up all night working on that scroll, Bao and I had no excuse.

Rilrae looked to us, searching for permission to tell her tale herself.

I held up my had to her and asked Madhava; “What did the Rani say about Rilrae in her message to you?”

“She did say that Rilrae was ‘not to be mistaken for anything malicious’. Now,  that is an interesting choice of words… 'any _thing'_ … it it not?”


	23. Chapter 23

24

 

 

 

The atmosphere of the room was more persuasive than any threat of force could be. There was a standing invitation to be welcomed, and supported, and something special here in Galanka. All they wanted from us was the truth.

Rilrae did not glance at me again, she was looking straight at Madhava as she sighed, nodded, and answered him. “I believe she meant that I am _not_ ,” she puled her headband off and swept her hair back in the same smooth gesture, “a Rakshasa, nor anything like them.”

There was no turning back after that. Bao looked my way to make certain I would not show any dismay, or anything else that would show that we had ever intended to hide the truth while Rilrae told her story. I think that she _needed_  to tell someone. The words poured from her, starting with the flight that had saved us a fortnight of travel and working back and forth. She managed to make better sense of it all than Merrin and Phaing had during their declaration months ago in Bhaktipur, somehow, as she spoke of important points and then filled them in with the timeline that connected them… yet not in the order they had occurred.

It made sense, to the Bhodistani people she was speaking to for the better part of the morning. And to Bao, who smiled and nodded and never interrupted her once. I was too flummoxed to say anything myself, it all made far less sense to me. Moirin of Alba and Terre d’Ange, wedded to a more linear style of storytelling with a beginning, a middle and _then_  a resolution… was out of my depth when confronted by a way of thinking that placed everything on some ever-repeating cycle where time itself was a subjective thing.

Where, and how, had Rilrae learned this way of thinking? Not from I, and what I had seen of her own parents made me doubt that it came from them either.

Rilrae’s story did not overshadow mine nor Bao’s own, it was too strange, and only peripherally connected to anything concerning Bhodistan or Bhaktipur. These folk had no mythical connection to Dragons or Sidhee nor anything much like them. Rilrae had left her parent's origin open to interpretation, another interesting touch, and in the end there were only two items of interest that the adults present questioned her about in any detail; Merrin’s little Empire was approaching the stage where trade with the outside world could be lucrative, and Madhava had some suggestions along those lines. His specialty in trade had little to do with shipping, yet he did tell Rilrae of some families he knew of on the east coast of Bhodistan that would make reliable trading partners.

Chetana was more interested in the conflict between Rilrae and her mother. Rilrae’s answers became halting and evasive, and for the first time she starting glancing at me. I had could not think of anything to say before she rose, and bowed to us all. “If you will excuse me, I think I may have had one glass of water too many.”

“Of course.” Chetana sat up and waved a servant aside. “Purnima will show you the way, won’t you dear? And, Rilrae, we will speak later, just you and I… if you will permit me?”

Rilrae stood still and thought for a moment before nodding. “Yes, I think we should.”

 

As soon as Rilrae and Purnima were gone, the questions began.

Was Rani Amrita truly free of enemies and secure in her throne?

How happy and healthy did she appear to us?

What were our impressions of the state of her land?

What had come of the liberation of the Untouchables?

What was the current attitude of the people of Ch’in, the Tatar?

Was Bhaktipur getting it’s fair share of the trade passing through it’s borders?

… we had no idea of how to answer that last question, and before we could even start to tell of our own travels in Bhodistan, all three of them were prodding us with the question dearest to their hearts;

How was Amrita’s fatherless son faring?

“Ah, you must have no fear regarding that one.” I sat taller in the cushions and smiled at them all. “Ravindra is more than even his mother would boast of, not that she is the boasting sort. He is brilliant, and brave. It was all the Rani could do to make him stay in the Palace when we rode out to Kurugiri.”

“All boys are like that at his age.” Chetana said with a fond glance at Abhay. His name meant 'brave lad'.

“Ravindra also came up with the plans we used to best them.”

“Ah, well, that _would_  make it a more difficult thing.” Madhava winked at his son.

“Wait… please, he planned _what_ , exactly?” Abhay wanted to know.

There was that, and one or two other points for us to cover before Rilrae returned and the mid-day repast was served.

We spent a fortnight there, and not for want of luxury. We had all had our fill of that on the Reena Patai, and the weeks before and after that had involved nothing more stressful than mere travel. However, we had been doing that constantly, and we were in need of something more fixed and predictable in our lives, if only for a short time. Comfortable beds, the freedom to sleep late, not constantly digging around in one bag or another every time one needed anything at all were only some of the benefits. The incessant fall of rain reminded us what the most important one was; not being out in that weather.

Most interesting to me was the glass-walled hall that Purnima had taken stewardship of after one of her older sisters had been married off. It reminded me of a vast and glorious version of the room Jehanne had filled with plants for me. Everything from odd little cactus to fully grown trees dwelt there, in such numbers that Purnima needed the help of three servants to keep them all alive. I spent many an hour there, touching everything that I could reach, and thinking of Anael, the green steward to whom I owed so much.

I also thought of Jehanne.

She had not reappeared in my dreams since Rilrae had voiced her unwelcome opinion about the nature of Ghosts, spirits that could continue to communicate with us, and their reasons for doing so. Her notions about the “craven” dead did not ring true with me, but I could not ignore the possibility that Jehanne's restless spirit might be up to something. Her own history argued that this could well be the case. I wanted to talk to her about it, directly, yet I had no idea how. During the night I had Bao near me, and the days were too full for me to have many thoughts to spare on the matter.

Days full of delights for us all, Madhava and Chetana were determined that it be so. We were just as determined to return the favor; One night Bao gave a demonstration of his acrobatic skills, and the night after that Rilrae preformed her dance with the Tulwars. Both were treated with wonderment, and offered gifts which were politely refused. Bao’s staff could not be replaced by something gaudy an inlaid with ivory and jewels, and we told our story of why this was so. Rilrae took one look at the fancy Tulwars with their elaborate scrollwork and deferred her reward for something more practical and of immediate need; arrows for my bow.

The fact that I was skilled with a bow once again aroused considerable interest. The next day I found myself in a field that had been marked off for archery contests, standing next to Abhay as he described the most elaborate variety of arrows that I have ever seen. There must have been over two hundred of them, arranged by attentive servants that would hold up or present me with examples of what I showed any interest in. Some of them looked more like heirlooms than something that should be used at all, ancient designs with fletching that flowed behind the noch, and some of those also had beaded thongs. Some had purely decorative knurls and bit of feather just behind the heads. These were amusing to look over and fun to send flitting to the target, I selected none of them for my own.

The variety did not end there, the more useful majority still had their foibles. Cheif among those were the ones with heads so large and broad that they were nearly the size of a leaf. Even the ones who’s center had been hollowed out seemed heavy and unbalanced to me.

“How does one aim these?” I asked Abhay.

He smiled, understanding my dilemma. “Practice, and good memory.”

We moved on to other sorts, there was really no question of learning to shoot a specialized type of arrow in the time I had to spend in Galanka. He did snatch up a pair at the end that were even more elaborately hollowed out than the others. These heads had flutings in them that I could not understand, until Abhay loosed one. The thing made a diabolical whine as it spend toward the target, making he flinch and even the inscrutable servants gave Abhay a sidelong glance.  
“I call them _shriekers_. They are good for signaling allies or distracting foes.”

There were more, many passed over because they were too short for Mabon’s bow. I chose several with broad “V” shaped heads that had been drilled out to lighten them, and a few with good bodkin points. There were some with double barbed heads that appealed to me, and a few with triple-barbs that seemed to be more over-kill. I tried them all out and filled a quiver with the ones I liked, and then Abhay insisted I fill a second one. This was a high order of generosity, as the Galanka quivers held a full twenty arrows rather than the flat quivers of the Tatar that held a dozen or less.

“You must accept,” he told me, “all of these together still don’t equal the gifts that your companions have refused.”

“But, we explained! We can’t keep adding to our luggage, if anything we need to start carrying _less_ around with us.”

“Oh, everyone understands yet there are forms to be followed.” He explained with a grin. “And you must also accept my challenge. I wish to test my skill against the winner of the Tatar tournament.”

I had no desire to say no to a request of that nature. The servants were the only spectators for the greater part of the contest, everyone else has wandered off during my lengthy selection and testing process. At first, Abhay was leading me as I learned the new arrows and their flight paths, even the ones I had chosen for their similarity to what I knew. He was also being clever with his targets, putting clay blocks inside helmets and calling which eye-socket he would aim for. Abhay was talented, and it was only at the end that my own skills won out and gave me a slight lead on points.

“You are very good,” I had to admit, “you hunt often?”

“I do my share. And I practice with all my weapons fairly often. There are many hours in the day that need filling.” He pursed his lips, looking over the last of the arrows that were being retrieved for us by his dashing servants. “All of these shafts need to be re-finished. If my people are having trouble telling yours from mine, we need to give yours a pattern specific to you.”

“Thank you, that is very thoughtful.” I paused, and looked at him just long enough for Abhay to wonder what I had on my mind. “You have not married yet?”

“How could I _not_  have, is that what you are wondering?” Abhay had a charming directness, it was what had given me the nerve to ask that question as I had. “I did, three years ago. The problem was, the lovely lady was in love with this other fellow. She hid it well, and gave me a chance… for all of 2 months. I suppose that I was expected to chase after her, kill them both or start a minor war over the whole thing.” Grinned again, and shrugged. “However, I just didn’t have it in me. Cowpana wasn’t a bad girl, she simply loved another, and always had. Perhaps life here wasn’t wonderful enough for her to forget that, or perhaps I wasn’t, and if so then the fault lies within me.” He sighed. “Perhaps my own heart was not in it either, it certainly felt lighter, afterwards.” He sighed with a philosophical air. “It is a good thing that all three of my sisters married well and have excellent reputations, my own reaction to being cuckolded has done nothing for my own. It is not likely that I will be able to marry well, not among the women of my caste is Bhodistan. Perhaps I should go on a great adventure as your Narinder has, and find myself a great romance amidst the dangers and strangeness of the wider world?”

“You would come with us? With…”

“Rilrae?” Abhay laughed. “Ah, no. She is a bit too alien for me. And I listened well to your tales, the year you and Bao spent apart… romantic to be sure, but not the sort of thing I would care to experience for myself.”

For that, I could hardly blame him.


	24. Chapter 24

25

 

 

Our time in Galanka was cut short on the the eight day… or so I thought at the time.

Madhava himself came rushing about the palace one afternoon, covered in moisture that I assumed to be sweat. It was not unusual to see him dashing about in a way that I can best describe as a bemused frenzy. His bulk was not due to inactivity, but a zest for life that started with the first serving of Breakfast in the morning.

Bao, I, and Rilrae were spending more time apart than together in this, the warmest Palace I had ever visited. There was no tension between us, we were simply giving each other a break from the close quarters we had shared for so long. Madhava found me in Purnima’s garden;

“ _Myroon_!” He said, nearly out of breath and smiling from ear to ear between gasps. “Where are… the others?”

Suppressing a grin at the way he mispronounced my name, I inclined my head to him over steepled fingers. “Bao is with your son and his friends, and last I heard of Rilrae she was with your wife and the artisans who are re-making your new parlor-“

“Come, come! Let us gather them right away. I just came from my warehouse and I have momentous news for you all!” What I had taken for sweat had been rainwater, Madhava had not waited for a covered liter.

We rounded up my companions, and of course our hosts were present when the three of us came together in the hall outside the new parlor. “Fazil Ladin’s ship is here, he is going to be leaving for Mnekhet and taking the quickest route possible, only one stop along the way. If all goes well, he says it will take four months, perhaps three-“

Bao clapped his hands together resoundingly and let out a whoop that changed to a more humorous sound as I threw my arm around his mid-section and hugged him to my side. Rilrae had the presence of mind to ask;

“When?”

“With the morning tide, just before dawn. I was able to secure room for you… ah… what?” Madhava saw something he had not thought of until this moment. What he had done for us was secure us passage that might see us home in as little as half a year, a great boon and one that made our diadh-anams swell in our chests… even as our hearts lurched.

“So soon?” Chetana asked in a quavering tone.

Devastatingly soon. We would have made better use of our time, had we known it would be cut so short… that was my thought at the household dispersed to do what they could to make our last evening with them the most memorable one that they could. The three of us stood around for a moment, watching them scatter and issue orders to every servant in sight, and then looked at each other. Rilrae had washed the last of the dye out of her hair, I noticed. Hair that wasn’t just golden, it truly did appear to be spun Gold and had a captivating effect. She had pulled her hair back and woven it into one long, heavy braid. With her black skin and her protruding ears, she was certainly the most exotic women in all of Bhodistan.

Bao noticed as well, and tilted his head at her. “As if you don’t attract enough attention as is. Are you determined to leave a trail of excited rumors behind you?”

“All I have to do is wear a hood, and we are headed for a part of the world where veils are common.” She strolled away from us to enjoy one evening in a place, and among people, that she did not have to hide her true self from.

It was a lovely evening, of course, one that started while the sun was still well above the horizon. There was nothing alcoholic served, in deference to the early start we would be making the next morning. The languorous music of Sitar and female choruses were present through the night, fading to allow a reading of poetry and departing entirely when the main event arrived. This was a troupe of dancers who were more acrobatic than anything I would have called Dancers, arrousing Bao’s interest.  
“If I may…?” He asked during a pause in their routine.

“Give them a bit of critical advise?” Abhay nodded with a sly smile.”Naturally, why do you think I invited them here?”

I smiled as well, and watched Bao have his fun with them, and they clamored for demonstrations from a genuine acrobat of glorious Ch’in. Happy for Bao, my mind wandered to the next leg of our journey… until Chetana sat down in the place that Bao had just vacated. She had that vaguely sad and brave look on her face, yet smiling through it as she presented me with a parting gift. “We had so little time for each other, and I know you wanted to ask me about Amrita. This should be yours now.”

It was a small bound volume of different sort of parchment, many pages of the antique version of Bhodistani script. I could not read it at all, having learned this language with verbal lessons and by speaking it. “Thank you, but-“

“Rilrae tells me she can read anything, she will have time to translate what little is there. It will be good for you two to have a project you can work on jointly, and at your leisure. You have a considerable journey yet ahead of you, don’t you?”

“Aye. You and she have been spending a good deal of time together, haven’t you?”

Chetana nodded, and glanced at her. Rilrae was watching Bao intently, she looked ready to spring to his side at the slightest hint of a summoning. “She needed advice, and there was council that I could give her that an only child could not.” She looked back at me. “Her family is not so large, but it is complex and she does have three siblings.” She laid a conciliatory hand on mine. “This is no criticism of you, dear Moirin, or of Bao. Rilrae simply has things that needed to be said to someone with a similar set of experiences.”

Of course! By the Gods, I hand’t even thought of that. My family consisted of my Mother and Uncle Mabon, and a Father that I had spent very little time with. Bao’s family had played no part in his life after his third year, could this be the real reason we failed her in certain ways? “She chose to observe us and then be with us because of our supposed Heroisms, I don’t think she ever even realized-“ I cut myself short and shook my head. “Stone and Sea… Phe’dre, Imriel … even our heroes of old have had rather unconventional and solitary beginnings.” I felt a smile split my face and put an arm around Chetana’s shoulders. “Thank you, so very much! For her sake and mine. I can’t begrudge you a moment spent that way, and I would like to hear anything you think I should know about…. ah, but I do wish we had been able to talk about Amrita, just a little.”

“And thus, my gift to you.” Chetana petted my hand that rested on the little book. “She wrote poetry when she was younger. Hardly the stuff of legends, yet it has a quality all it’s own, as does she. I know you were very close, so it goes without saying that she would be glad that you have it now.”

My heart skipped a beat, and I grew so warm that Bao cast a glance at me. This book was not as old as it seemed, simply worn by frequent reading. For more than a decade it had been a mother’s keepsake, her treasured connection to a Daughter she would probably never see again.

“I can’t…”

“You already have.” Chetana assured me.

 

Fazil’s ship was more oval and massive than any other ship of it’s size that I had ever seen. To Bao it was “like a bathtub!” and Rilrae peered at the rigging in some confusion. I could not take my eyes off Amrita’s family, seeing us off from the dock. Every one of them had come down with us in the pre-dawn darkness, and now they were waving goodbye to a trio of near-strangers as if we were part of their family. Dynamic Madhava, winsome Chetana, thoughtful Abhay and adorable Purnima, all of them sad to see us leaving but happy to see us off to such fortunate circumstances.

Family, it was something that had been on my mind since Chetana had spoken with me the night before. Bao and I would be starting one of our own someday, Gods willing, when we settled down in Alba. How would we deal with a Rilrae of our own? _Was_ she more balanced now, and how would I be able to find out? And… what _was_ it about the rigging that had her so spellbound? Her head was tilted back so far that her gold hair was visible as she examined every detail of the masts.

Fazil was a Bearish yet jovial Akkadian, a giant of a man standing a full foot taller than Bao and nearly as broadly proportioned as his ship. He was amused with Rilrae’s critical eye and her questions about his ship. Gathering us all together, he greeted us formally and then anticipated our questions; “My ship is the first of it’s kind, a hybrid of east and west. To the rear you see the square rigging of Ch’in, and to the fore you see the triangular sails of my homeland. I have added the long bow-spirit of Europa and the vast sails that can be rigged there. What you have here is a vessel that can tack into the wind or ride with it like a magic carpet, like something with wings on a good day!”

“You are taking us on an experimental ship?” Bao glowered at him.

“No, not at all! I tested the concept on a smaller ship and everything worked so well I was able to sell it to the Navy. _This_ ship is made for cargo and profit, and some degree of comfort. Your cabin awaits.”

While he looked at us, expecting us to be herded below like docile livestock, Rilrae shook her head. “I have some experience with setting sails and-“

“Two weeks!” Bao said, incredulous that she would start in with this sort of thing so soon.

The look Fazil was giving her made Rilrae give up the idea with a shrug. “So be it, a month seems like a long time with nothing productive to do.”

“I showed her the little book of poetry. “Oh, I think I have a way to keep your mind and hands occupied for a good many days.”

 

We spend a day and a half tacking up into the wind and out of the Gulf. Fazil’s rigging appeared to be living up to his boasts; a ship that seemed to be more suited to the sea than our own lagged behind us the whole way. Rilrae gladly helped me with translating the first few pages of Amrita’s book. The dreams of the future for the young girl that she was included nothing of becoming the Rani of a little kingdom high in the mountains. Rilrae left me to the translations and wandered around the deck as the time drew near for us to round the headland and begin the run westwards. Bao and I were there as well when the time came, there was a break in the rain and we could see some distance, where there were no squalls or small bursts of rain to block our view. We could see a distant bit of land occasionally, Fazil did not want his tubby ship to wander close to any potential shallows.

When the time came, the ship came smartly about and settled into a new heading without any difficulty. Fazil, smiled, and then suddenly started barking new orders. Red-faced and with eyes bulging, he cursed harshly. “And what do they think they are doing NOW?!”

Ahead of us were a pair of ships, not an unusual sight in this busy waterway. What they had done that infuriated Fazil was in the way they had moved. Instead of turning towards the Gulf or continuing down the coast, they had turned towards his ship and were now swinging around parallel to him to avoid a collision. On was ahead of us, the other was half a bowshot away from out right side, and downwind of us. My diadh-anam chilled me, and Bao and I both looked aft. The ship behind us had caught up to us without straining, and flew an orange pennant.

Fazil realized what was happening at the same time we did. “They have boxed us in! We can’t our-race them into the wind, and if we try to run past them…” He didn’t need to finish, armed men appeared on the decks of all three ships. Some of them carried crossbows so large and heavy they needed to mount them on the railing of their ship before they could aim them.

“To arms!” Fazil shouted.

“Don’t you _DARE_ ” Shahrukh’s voice boomed across the waves at us.

 

Bao and I glanced at each other, but before our eyes met, we knew that _we_  dared. Rilrae was still glancing up at the rigging, a foolish thing to be doing in these circumstances. I was much closer to our cabin than she, so I didn’t bother to shout at her as I dashed down the hatch to grab my bow and new arrows, as well as her pair of Talwar. Bao was inseparable from his staff, as ever, and when I emerged I found him at the rear of the ship near the captain. Fazil was near panic, and shouting back at Shahrukh “What _do_  you want?”

“Nothing of your’s.” The Rakshasa assured him. “All I want are your passengers.”

Clever of him, separating us from the crew like that. There was no time to explain to Fazil and his men that I was probably the best shot with a bow on all four ships, or that Bao was also known as Lightning Stick. Nor would it have made any difference. The crew on our _own_ ship was already looking at us, not as fellow human beings, but as a commodity to be bartered for the sake of their own survival. Even Fazil looked at us that way, his hand resting on the pommel of the sword on his hip. Bao and I went back-to-back to defend ourselves, I had my bow strung in an instant and drew and arrow, letting the belt with Rilrae’s Talwars clatter to the deck.

Rilrae! Where…”

“No deal!” Her voice called out from high overhead. “Just one of us, me! But you will have to think fast.”

There she was, up in the rigging she had been studying since we had boarded. Rilrae stood on the cross-beam that held the square part of the rigging. There were no crewmen anywhere near her, none of us had even noticed her climbing up there. She did not stay still, Rilrae was already casting off her robes and letting the wind take them, revealing that she wore nothing at all underneath. Sailors on the other ships hooted and called out to her, but I did not hear Shahrukh’s voice among them. He may have been too stunned to say anything, as was I, until she started running down the wooden beam, straight towards his ship.

“NO!” I screamed, and moved a one with Bao to the railing under her. There was nothing that we could have done even if we had been prepared. Rilrae cleared the side of the ship with ease, diving away from us head down and arms outstretched. It would have been a clean dive, but she changed her mind, and with a wild shriek she tumbled in the air with her head tucked and arms & legs drawn in tight. She hit the water in a tight ball that made for a splash that could be seen half a league away. Her insolent gesture sent a splash of Seawater into my face-

 

— _the strangest plants I have ever seen… a tree that looked like a parasol, a barrel-like tree trunk that supported naught but a dozen little flowers… pink and yellow fingers of vegetation reaching for the sun in a riotous display of colors… all growing in a hideous desert!…_ -

 

\- which I had to shake my head to be free of and clear my eyes. Bao was shouting, raging at a Captain that was ignoring him and shouting orders of his own to the crew. The ship lurched, and I had to grab the railing as my head spun with the vision I had just received. I glimpsed Rilrae. Island-born, she swam like a Dolphin, headed for Shahrukh’s ship. Or, rather, the place it had been. Ships move, and his was already moving from the place she had aimed for in her mad dive.

His voice cut through the wind and drizzle with unnatural force; “Stop this thing! Get _her_ , she is… IF YOU DOOMED FOOLS RUN HER DOWN I WILL SKIN YOU ALL ALIVE!” This last had been bellowed at the ship behind us, which had angled over to intercept the swimming girl, and did indeed seem in danger of running her over. That captain reacted by shedding sail and turning at the same time, sheering away and floundering to a halt.

Fazil and his ship were already proving their worth, altho it would be a long time before I would admit them any credit. His portly ship may not have been attractive or graceful, yet it could turn quickly, and on that day it did so, circling about in barely it’s own length. It did so _into_  the wind, and by the time it had reversed direction the crew had let out every sail, and the ship lunged into the waves. Running with the wind we had spent the better part of two days fighting, Fazil and his gang of cowardly scalawags left Rilrae to her fate, ignoring my wails and Bao’s curses.

It had all happened to quickly, Rilrae had astounded everyone, and in a very real sense it was she who had left _us_  behind.  
Why?

And why did my _diadh-anam_ , which had previously been very passive regarding Rilrae, seem to shiver inside me?

Before we lost sight of them in a sudden downpour, we heard a lusty shout from Shahrukh’s ship. They had her, and they did not sound ready to give her a very polite welcome.


	25. Chapter 25

26

 

“She didn’t spare us a word, she just _went…_ ”

Bao was more mystified than I was, and perhaps more hurt as well. I was angry, standing there at the hindmost end of the ship at his side, staring at the little flotilla as they reformed and began laboriously tacking their way south.

Fazil did us his one and only good service when he said; “She did a brave thing, saved many lives today.”

I sighed, and looked up at Bao. “Aye, she did. Heroic and selfless,” Bao nodded and lowered his head, looking down at the froth in our wake.

“I am truly sorry.” Fazil would not stop when he was ahead. “If there is anything I can do-“

Bao struck like his namesake; Lightning. He swept a man twice his mass off his feet and pressed the end of his staff to Fazil’s throat as he lay gasping on the deck. “What you will DO,” he said loudly and harshly, for all the men still on deck to hear, “is refund our money in full, and take us back to Galanka immedialty! This ridiculous bucket of a ship and your cowardly crew are of no further use to us!”

Fazil was a proud man. He glared up at Bao and hissed, “you…”

“Needless to say, we won’t be sleeping on the way back. You, _and_  your men, should be less worried about my wrath, and instead be wary of my wife. She is also known as the Emperor of Ch’in’s Jade-eyed witch.”

Fazil was not so familiar with our story, but his crew had many Bhodistani among them. Men who had been advancing on us with menace in their eyes now hissed and backed away. Fazil noticed this, and gave it some thought. “Very well, then. We can hardly go elsewhere with a Pirate fleet on the lose, can we?”

 

 

We spent the half-day returning to Galanka in our little cabin. As Bao has said, sleep was out of the question. I did think of something that made me relax, for a little while.  
“They are leaving Bhodistan, aren’t they?”

Bao thought a moment, and then nodded. “Likely so. I believe these folk would have a problem with anyone who kidnapped the girl who helped who helped return the Black Diamond. Even for a Rahshasa, it would seem prudent to leave, or go into hiding somewhere.”

“Our problem may be solved, then. Rilrae’s parents cannot ‘see’ into Bhodistan, but once his ship leaves sight of this land, they should be able to sense her… locate her somehow. I only hope that…”

“‘ _WE ABSOLVE YOU IN ADVANCE’_ … yes, I hope that holds true in our case. However, I see two problems with your idea.”

“Two?”

“Yes. First of all, their war up in Riva must be approaching its climax by now. If it already has, the harder part of their work is just begining, yes?”

“Yes, that would be something of a distraction, even for them.” I admitted. “And the other thing?”

“You said that Shahrukh could block your visions. If he could do that-“

“Gods DAMN him!” I raged. “Yes, if he could do that, he might also be able to block Merrin or Phaing from noticing him, and Rilrae as well. They certainly have no reason to be looking for her in one among many hundreds of ships in that ocean.”

“ _Moirin_!” Bao put an end to my ranting by grabbing me about the shoulders with one hand and putting his palm to my forehead, as if he was checking for a fever. “I have never seen you so out of your head, and I don’t like it.” He sighed and relaxed his grip on me. “Moirin? Please listen, this isn’t something we can blame ourselves for. We can’t blame Rilrae either…. no, _liste_ n to me. She learned to act quickly and decisively, and no matter what we may think of how she did it, she saved us from something terrible.”

“We could have done-“

“Done _what?_ ” Bao shook me, gently but firmly. “There was no place to hide on that ship, we were surrounded on all sides. Even if we had prevailed against Fazil’s crew we could not have sailed the ship and fought at the same time. So, instead of all of us being captured, only _she_ was, and do you know who’s fault it was? Shahrukh, his and no other’s. Focus on that, and calm down before you make yourself sick!”

 

We docked after dark, and this time there could be no question of waiting until the next day, we rushed straight to the palace. Soaked by another heavy rain and nearly frantic, we burst upon the family greeting us in their night-clothes and told our story with indecent haste. The reaction they gave us was incredible to me; once the shock of what had befallen Rilrae passed, all of them seemed _glad_ to have us back,and in a condition where we badly needed their help.

“You present us with a fine opportunity to return the men boons you have rendered unto us and our beloved Amrita.” Madhava announced, both hands slapping at his vast belly while calling for his servants.

“I hear the call of adventure, thanks to you two.” Abhay said in a softer, more cautious voice.

“Tell me more about these plants you saw in your vision.” Purnima asked, when she had a chance to get the words in.

Only Chetana was quiet, and too disturbed to have much to say. I gravitated towards her while the men spoke back and forth. Madhava characteristically announced that he would take his personal boat across the gulf that night to visit ta city-state known for Bucaneering and well-traveled captains, while Abhay would ride west to another port and messengers would be sent in other directions. All would leave immediately…

“No!” Purnima said, loudly and clearly. Everyone present was so amazed by this rare outburst that we all stopped and looked to her. “Moirin was given a vision, and it may have something to do with where that foul Rakshasa is taking Rilrae.”

Madhava and Abhay glanced at each other. “He would be going north or south, another ship would have sighted them by now.”

“What about west, as we were going?” Bao asked.

This simply didn’t make sense to the men of Bhodistan. Shahrukh was a fallen spirits of sorts, but he was still of this land.

“Surely you can tarry an hour or two, it will take nearly that long for you get ready to leave, yes?” Purnima clapped her hands for a servant and bid her to bring her drawing tablet. “Moirin, what I want is for you to describe what you saw. I will illustrate them and copies will be sent with the men. They will be given to the wise men where they are going, and perhaps one will be able to tell us where those plants grow. A good clue, yes?”

“Oh, stone and sea, yes!” I hugged her. “That’s brilliant, just like your sister and her son!”

She glowed, however some trouble arose when I tried to describe them. Purnima was a very good artist, something that I had not noticed earlier, and very exacting in her craft. However, she could not grasp some of the details.

“Moirin, are you sure about this? These plants… I have never even _heard_ of anything that grows like this.” She shook her head at the image of a barrel-shaped tree with few leaves that grew straight out of bare rock.

“All the better, clues like these will be best if they lead us to a unique location.”

It was somewhat more than an hour later that Purnima had made her pictures and distributed them to the waiting men. I found Bao looking dispirited and frustrated. “They insist that I stay here, at this palace. Whoever returns first must find us both here, ready to go.”

I thought it was perfectly sensible, having him here would help me be less fretful.

Yes, days, in that vast rambling structure that seemed half-empty without the men and so many of the staff away, slogging through the endless rain so that they could do our bidding. I nearly made a mistake during that first long day of waiting, questioning him closely about what had happened when Rilrae left us. “You didn’t see her climbing up that mast?”

“No, I did not. Why?” He sat at the opposite end of a couch built into the lower edge of a widow, both of us turned towards each other to watch random bursts of lightning.

“Would you have stopped her if you had?” A wicked thing to ask, boredom and mental exhaustion brought it out of me.

“I don’t know.” He spoke thoughtfully, looking at me now. “Nobody that did see her going up there knew what she had planned. All they did know was that she had claimed to be skilled at handling the rigging.

And still, I persisted, and nearly caused a falling-out between Bao and myself. “But, if you _had_ known…”

“Moirin! Stop that.” It was not Bao that spoke. For the first time, I heard Chetana speaking with a firm voice at somewhat above the minimum required for conversation. She walked into the room and stood before us with her hands forming a mudra of implacable will. “Cease with this, it can lead to no good for anyone. Why are you so determined to know why she did that?”

I could not think of an answer right away. Bao saw something in her face that I did not; “ _You_ know, don’t you?”

Chetana nearly lost her composure, and flounced down onto the couch between us. “If I tell you, will you stop with this, and try to get some rest?” We agreed, I despite my sudden wakefulness and the way Bao leaned forward, eyes going dark. Chetana shook her head at him. “No, I did not know she would do that, but you know I spent a good deal of time talking to her. Rilrae was able to tell me a good many things that she neglected to tell you… things that may have bearing on this situation.”

“Such as?” I prompted while Chetana gathered her thoughts.

“You have met her mother, Sushulana, yes?”

“Briefly.” I allowed. “She makes an impression, no doubts there.”

Bao grunted. “We know that her legacy has lead to certain issues for Rilrae.”

“Issues?” Chetana glanced back and forth between us. “Do you know the specifics?”

Bao hesitated this time, so I answered. “A mother that is enormously accomplished and has done great things is bound to have an effect on her daughter’s self-image… no?”

Chetana was shaking her head before I had finished. “That isn’t it. Did you know that Sushulana’s mother was killed when she was very young? Did you know that she was enslaved and sold into a… a _Zenana_ is the closest word I can think of to describe it, when she was still young?”

Bao recoiled, and I put my had to my chin, gripping it hard enough to reduce my words to a murmur. “That explains a few things.”

“She escaped by murdering her Master, a feat in itself as he was some sort of a sorceror, but the most remarkable thing about her was how she re-made herself from a vengeful renegade into someone determined to fight evil, and has struggled ever since to be helpful and kindly to people.”

Bao was close to growling. “What kind of a mother tells her own daughter about all of this before she has attained her full maturity?”

I was wondering the same thing, until Chetana said; “None that I know of. You are aware that Rilrae has an older sister, are you not?”

And like a thunderclap, it all fell into place for us; an older sister, seeking to put the wild and rebellious Rilrae in her place after some transgression, and the impact it must have had. The friction between siblings could have gone unnoticed by both parents, as is so often the case. Father and Mother were not to blame for Rilrae's flirtations with danger, and finally her sacrifice. Rilrae was trying to show her sister she could live up to her legacy, or perhaps even experience it for herself.

Now we knew why she had not spared us a parting word, or even a backward glance. She didn’t want to encourage us to try to rescue her. Rilrae was determined to experience what her own mother had, and perhaps to triumph over it in her own way. She was trying to define herself, somehow.

Bao, of course, was considering an even darker possibility; “She may not _want_ us to rescue her...”

 

Somehow, we did manage to sleep. For more than half a day, we lay in each other’s arms as would statues, stone-deaf to the world around us. Troubling as Chetana’s words were, they allowed us to make sense of what she had done, and I felt absolved.

That word again, Merrin’s use of it also made more sense now. He must have sensed that something of this sort could happen, however, I doubted he would have let Rilrae out of his sight if he had known just how outlandish his daughter could be, given the opportunity.

When we rose, it was with a grim resolve. We would find her and remove her from the grasp of this monstrous Rakshasa, no matter what her desires may be. Indeed, whatever she had thought it would be, it was certain that reality was very different from what she had imagined.

That day, we received our first good news. Purnima had been out and about Galanka itself with one last copy of her drawings. With the help of a manservant she had visited the local experts on horticulture and came back to us more excited than I had ever seen her. After confounding four experts in a row, she had found one who had drawings similar to her own. These illustrations had been left behind by a penniless wanderer from Jebe Barkal, of all places, over half a century before.

“So, we must go to some vast land somewhere south of Mnekhet to start our search?” Home was sounding more distant than ever.

“No, not by half!” Purnima happily told us. “Those plants only grow on one small isle in all the world, according to the stories. Stories known only to we who have an affinity for green and growing things. It is on the way to where you want to go, not some land on that infamous river, nor even a place here in Bhodistan. Have you ever heard of an island called Socotra?”


	26. Chapter 26

27

 

 

 

West, and to the _south_ , that was our new goal. A few hundred leagues south of the path we would have taken with Fazil, a little isle out by itself off the coast of that great continent that Bao and I had sailed around yet never set foot on. That had been on our journey on the Emperor’s Greatship, and now we had no ship at all, yet. Fazil’s ship had departed immediately, regardless of what he had said about Pirate fleets… how ironic it was that his path would take him towards that very danger, if he still planned on trying to reach Mnekhet. Madhava had only three ships of his own, and none of them were anywhere near their home port. We studied what charts we could find, and worried. The normal means of navigation are not precise, a ship on such a journey would aim north or south of their goal, and then turn towards the true goal once land was sighted. Our target looked tiny, and as far away as Terre d; Ange was from Cytheria, with the mainland was far behind it. How much time would be lost if we missed it, and what sea would be be in when we realized it?

“You know, Chetana is right, you really _do_  take too much onto your own shoulders.” Bao replied when I told him of my fears. “I noticed something earlier that I want to show you.” He took me to a part of the library where a row of slightly familiar books awaited me. “Yes, the very ones that upset Rilrae so much.”

The Kama Sutra, the vast array of books dedicated to the keeping of a good household. He reached for one volume and handed it to me. It was illustrated, and in this particular volume were some rather graphic and lurid pictures that put what we had seen on the forgotten temple to shame.

“You were looking for _this_ , when -“

“It was not hard to find.” Bao cut me off with his impish grin. “See, the binding shows that this book has been opened rather more frequently than the others.”

And so it was, he had found something in a moment that Rilrae had missed before flying into her tirade. The precise and anti-spontaneous nature of the book was clear, and yet the ideas presented were fascinating. Bao was able to coax me to bed early, and we melted into each other as we enjoyed all the subtle variations possible while seated face-to-face. I was in a much better frame of mind the next day, and just in time.

 

Abhay returned first, in high spirits and urging us to be ready to leave as soon as possible. “I’m so glad i got here first, his ship must be just hours away!”

“Who's ship?” I asked, at the same time that Bao, Purnima and Chetana did.

“Ramachandra.”

Purnima’s hand went to her face, as was her wont when she thought that her smile was too bright to be seemly in polite company. Chetana’s eyes went wide for a moment, and then she nodded approvingly. “Well, if you can get _him_ …”

There was a commotion in the courtyard, and a bedraggled servant rushed down the hall towards us. He skidded on his knees as he landed at the feet of Chetana. “The master has returned, the Chirurgeon has been sent for!”

Life never seems to cease alternating between long spells of boredom and bursts of mad activity, not for Bao and I.

We found Madhava sprawled on a litter, sipping water and waving off all the hovering servants to allow us to approach him. “Forgive me, dear one.” He said to Chetana. “You were right. However inexplicable it may be, I truly am not as young as I once was.” It was with great relief we found that what had laid him low and sent his servants into such a flustered state was nothing more than overexertion. “I am apologize to you as well, Bao… Myrunn. Three ports in as many days, and I found no suitable Captains for you.” He blinked at Abhay. “You… so soon?”

“Rest easy, Father. I have found just the man, and he will be here soon.”

“Have you? That’s wonderful.” Madhava let go a deep sigh, and closed his eyes. He slept immediately, and for hours afterwards could not be roused.

I could not bear the notion that Amrita’s father had nearly been sent to his death bed because of us. However, I had barely begun my effusive apology when Chetana silenced me with a firm hand on my shoulder, and a nod towards Abhay. The young scion of the house was hovering near his father’s bedroom. For the first time, I saw him take charge of the household issuing orders to the servants and receiving their reports as would a General among his troops. After a moment, I understood why Chetana had begun to smile. Abhay, the gentle and forgiving dreamer, would not going with us on our dangerous adventure. He was far too busy adjusting to the reality that his Father was not immortal, and that Abhay himself would someday be the patriarch of his venerable family.

I never did learn if Madhava was being theatrical, or if he was honestly ill. Shortly after the Chirurgeons arrived, a one-man tempest arrived.

 

Abhay tore himself away from his father’s side as soon as Ramachandra was announced. It was well that he did, for the man in question did not give the servant announcing him any more of a head-start than his scurrying feet allowed for. When we first caught sight of him, he was handing his sword-belt off to one of the household guards, striding rapidly towards us with his eyes fixed dead-ahead. Tall and with a tightly trimmed mustache, he was darkened and hardened by a lifetime outdoors. His trousers and jacket fit so well that he must have had an expert tailor, and were entirely black. The only color in his outfit was the silver piping in his jacket, the silver worked into his boots, and the perfectly white turban on his head. When he saw Bao and I, his face split into a grin that revealed teeth as white as his turban.

“Abhay!” He called out with a voice meant to carry across a busy dockyard, his words echoing all the way up and down the marble hall. “You told it true. Unless my eyes deceive me, here indeed are the storied and star-crossed lovers from Ch’in!” His eyes shifted to Abhay. “Are they ready to go?”

“You should ask _them_ , Captain. Did I not mention that they speak our language?”

Ramachandra rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. “You most certainly did not.”

Bao cleared his throat. “Abhay only just returned. He had no time to tell us anything at all about you.”

“I must be brief, then-“

“Indeed you must!” The boisterous Captain interrupted Abhay before he could even attempt a formal introduction.

“Very well. Bao of the Lightning Stick, Moirin Mac-Fianche, here you have a man who combines what you know of Narinder with the heart of your Snow-Tiger into a regular il-Khan of the seas.”

That set Ramachandra back on his heels, just a little bit. “Stop damning me with faint praise.” he said in a quieter voice.

“If you will excuse me, my father has taken ill.” Abhay turned to us. There was not a trace of acrimony on his face as he bid us farewell. “And should you ever come this way again, you will be most welcome.” He smiled, and shrugged. “Yes, and that goes for Rilrae as well. Something tells me that she might just take me up on that offer, someday.”

 

Not half an hour later, we were boarding Ramachandra’s ship. It was raining again, of course, yet that made no difference to his crew. Bare-chested and quick on their feet, the wasted no time at all casting off once we and our gear came on deck. Peering into the gloom and the driving rain, we could see little of his ship before the Captain lead us below. His cabin was a thing of beauty; bright paneling lit by lamps built into the walls and held securely behind glass panels. The captain flounced down behind a small desk and waved Bao and I to a small couch just large enough for the two of us. Sighing deeply, he hauled a bottle out of a drawer and cast 3 heavy pewter drinking cups onto the table-top.

“ _Now_ , we can relax a bit, and get to know each other. I hope you like rice wine.“

“Yes, of course, but first,” Bao pulled a copy of Purnima’s drawing from a satchel and began unfolding it, “the place we are going-“

“Is called Socotra.” Ramachandra finished for him.

“You know of it?”

“Know of it?” his grin became something more sly, and predatory. “I have been there many times. When I was young, it was a way-station for traders traveling back and forth between between my country and Mnekhet, and other places as well. Until about 15 years ago, at certain times of the year we could stop there, re-provision, and exchange news.” His grin hardened, and became a mask for the anger beneath it as he filled all the cups and passed them around. “And then, suddenly, it wasn’t anymore. My first command was made unnecessarily difficult, you might say, we didn’t know anything had changed until we can within sight of the shore. A row of polls had been driven into the sand, a row half a league long. We thought that the banners looked strange, and then we drew close enough to see that they were not banners at all, but the remains of the men and women who had staffed the way-station in the only anchorage on that accursed island.” He gulped the fiery wine and refilled his cup quickly. “Can you imagine what it was like, knowing that as Captain that I must turn away at once and make all haste to find friendly portage in the Umayyit… and leave my Father-in-law impaled on one of those polls?” He drained his cup a second time and slammed it on the desktop with a resounding crack. “No crew of mine would go near the place for years afterwards, and for years after _that_ the rumor that a Rakshasa held sway there discouraged even one such as myself. Ahh… but now, NOW, things are different. That wicked bastard Shahrukh has stolen a Deva, this Rilrae of yours who placed the Black Diamond in Indra’s very hand!” He leaned forward and placed the bottle on the table where we could reach it. “May all the Gods sing your praises, you have gifted me with something priceless; Romance! _This_ crew will go there with us, I needed even less time to convince them than Abhay needed to convince me to take up this mad quest of yours. Come now, drink! Drink to justice long delayed. Drink to the demise of a foe that has made one enemy too many!”


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two days later and I have another chapter, its not much but I want to have a complete thought out of the way before moving on to the next one.

28

 

 

“… I see.” Bao glanced at me as we drank our little cups of potent wine.

What I saw myself was that we had been given more than we had bargained for. A famous free-booting Captain that knew his craft was a wonderful boon. One that was intimately familiar with the strange isle we were going to was simply fantastic. One with vengeance on his mind, on the other hand, could well be the death of us all.

  
There was also one more issue that had to be resolved quickly. We had a month to learn what we could about Ramachandra, yet there was something that could not wait;  
“As for the matter of our fare-“ I began.

Ramachandra waved me off. “Yes yes, master Abhay has already taken care of all that.”

“He did?”

“When?”

“Worry not about that, I have worries of my own. First and foremost among those are the pair of you.”

Bao’s head tilted forward and he stared at Ramachandra through his eyebrows. “Is that a fact? Please, do tell, what is it about _us_  that has _you_  so worried?”

“I am trusting that at least some of the tales about the two of you are true. We need a certain advantage, or several, if we are to take on a Rakshasa in his lair. So, please, will you tell me what kind of a chance we have here… what can you really _do_?”

 

Contrary to so many tales, we could not charm a Dragon out of it’s treasure, put an arrow through the eye of an Eagle from a league away or crack a mountain asunder with one jab of a bamboo staff. We managed to impress him with what we could do, and in return he impressed us as well. Ramachandra was 20 years our senior and had spent all of those years and more charging about the Oceans all around Bhodistan. He was an expert seaman and a gifted navigator, as we expected. This Captain also fought like a Lion with anything that came to hand and had a flair for seeing the truth in people. He had chosen a crew that looked as fierce as they were in fact, yet were disciplined and free of the usual bad-apples that could spoil the rest.

One of that crew was different from the others, one called Angarn whom I knew to be a woman pretending to be a man the moment we met. Her eyes and delicate build showed her to be from a place farther to the east, yet not Ch’in, somewhere farther to the south as well as east. Ramachandra called her into the cabin while our first meeting with him was still underway. At his bidding, she pealed off the turban to reveal her face and short hair.  
“Kom”? Bao inquired.

“Viet.” She corrected him. Tall and lacking curves, only the way she moved and her voice betrayed her femininity. “Why?” That she asked of her Captain.

Ramachandra nodded to me. “It was only a matter of time before Moirin here guessed, if she has not already. Let us avoid any awkward discoveries in front of the crew, alright? Yes, and you may explain your creation to our honored guests. You have earned the right.”

“Creation?” I asked, looking around the cabin. Angarn looked too severe to have created anything artistic, my first thought went to weapons, but there was nothing new or exotic among the many items hanging on the walls.

“This ship.” A grin threatened to split her severe features, one I encouraged with a smile of my own. “You know something of ships?”

“We were on one belonging to a certain fellow called Fazil-“

“BAH!” Her head went back as Angarn spat a curse at the ceiling and slapped her hands to her hips. “That imbecile and his wallowing tub! He got it backwards. _This_ ship has but one mast, triangular sails to fore and aft, but the great square sails hang from the mast itself. It is well you are with us, the war will be well over by the time he gets where he is going.”

“War?” Not this again!

Ramachandra held up a hand, and explained for us. “Mnekhet and Akkad are making angry noises at each other. I only just heard of it myself, and it is possible that Fazil was the only one in Galanka that knew. He was sailing into dangerous waters with shipload of weapons to sell to the highest bidder.”

“That sounds rather dangerous for his passengers.” Bao grated.

“Perhaps he believed that such august persons such as yourselves would find a way to protect him and his ship in the event of something dangerous crossing his path. You two do have a reputation for resourcefulness.”

Bao grabbed the bottle and poured himself two drinks in rapid succession before he felt calm enough to answer. “Well, in that case, his ideas about us turned out rather differently, didn’t they?”

“Our ‘reputation’, you say?” I slumped in my chair and shook my head at Bao. “At least it took this long for it to catch up to us… and a sweet reprieve it was, for the most part.”

“Did this girl, this Rilrae, truly leap from your ship to distract the Rakshasa, and save the rest of you?” Angarn asked.

I nodded. “I don’t know if you would call it such a distraction, exactly. It was she that Shahrukh was primarily interested in.”

“She was bowing to the inevitable with grace, then. I can accept that.” Easy for him to say, but the Captain was as good as his word, he never spoke of what motivations Rilrae may have had, ever again. “Angarn, the rain has let up, why don’t you show these two what it is that you have wrought with this ship?”

I did the best I could to show interest in what Angarn was showing us, _her_  ship. What a fine accomplishment, what a wonderful thing that a woman had found a patron willing to support her… and what a sleek and well-balanced ship she had wrought for him.

It was the last thing I could concentrate on, my mind was far away with a different ship. Shahrukh had nearly a week’s head start on us now. What was happening to her, what _would_  happen when they reached the lair that the Rakshasa had been preparing for a decade and a half? I wandered to the stern of the ship while Bao chatted with Angarn, just background noise to me… until I noticed something that finally made me interested in where I was and what was happening to me.  
Galanka had already disappeared behind us.

I turned around and stared up at the rigging, Rilrae’s playground on other ships. To my eyes it seemed far more intricate, and the vast square sail I had heard so much about was furled, taking no part in our rapid progress. Our ship was heeled over sharply, yet it had made no turn for longer than I could remember… not that I had been paying much attention. The mast was the tallest I had ever seen, and a cat’s cradle of rope and struts held sails that extended far beyond either end of the ship as it knifed its way through the water. We were just a few degrees off from sailing straight to where the wind was coming from.

“Welcome back.” Bao gave me a wink. Angarn huffed in prim annoyance, so I spoke to Bao rather than her.

“I should have known that this ship was exceptional. Abhay cut across the base of the peninsula in two days, riding hard the whole way. Chandragupta sailed all the way around the headlands and arrived at practically the same time.”

Angarn laughed, not pleasantly but proudly. “We needed more than half a day to make the _Vina_ ready for sea and gather the crew.” At last, she smiled when she saw the look Bao and I gave each other.

“We may be able to catch them before they reach that island!”


	28. Chapter 28

29

 

 

 

We certainly gave it our best effort.

The _Vina_ , the Bhodistani word for ‘Lute’, was as broad-beamed and shallow in the hull as it’s namesake. This made her handy in shallow waters, and brutal in high seas. I have never sailed in a ship that was fighting the weather so hard and for so many days, and I never wish to be again. Waves seemed to come from three different directions at times, and every other wave we broached seemed to make the hull ring like a gong, and rattled our bones together and made sleep impossible unless we were truly exhausted. By the third day out we were all sleeping soundly whenever we could.

“If it is any compensation, you have earned the respect of my crew.” Ramachandra informed us halfway through our journey. “Not a single complaint, from either of you. Well done.”

“Would it have done any good if we had?” Bao asked wryly. “Have you been holding out on us? Nicer bunks hidden away somewhere perhaps?” Better food?”

I laughed at that last remark. If anything, the food aboard this ship was better than what we’d experienced aboard the Great Ship. “Water to bathe with?”

We were in his cabin again, the place on the ship farthest from the pounding the bow was taking. Our own tiny cabin was near his, as was the cubby-hole that Angarn called her own.

“No no, I’m afraid not, altho Soqotra will doubtless have many fine things for us to take advantage of.”

“Such as?” I asked that to prolong the conversation. My joints were starting to ache and the comfortable chairs in the captain’s cabin were the best reprieve we had from the constant punishment.

“Fresh fruit, Seafood like few places can provide, and rivers of fresh water if we are lucky.”

“I hope we have the chance to take advantage of them.” I thought of something that had been bothering me for some time. “We were unlucky with our first captain, and now we have been blessed with the perfect one. Almost… _too_  perfect.”

“How do you mean that?” Ramachandra said carefully.

“You are so familiar the very place we are looking for, on so exotic that few wise men back in Bhodistan even seem to know of it.”

Our Captain smiled and nodded at Bao. “Wise men do not make many trips out this far from the shores of our homeland, few Bhodistani ever do. I however, am familiar with almost every port reached by ships that have seen by my countrymen over the years.”

That reminded me of that thing that had been bothering me. “Madhava and his whole family, and everyone else in their entourage… could not conceive that Shahrukh would go anywhere outside of Bhodistan. I can see why sailors like yourself would be different, but everyone else is… so…”

“Inward-looking?” RamaChandra finished for me.

“Yes. Yes … I would say that sums it up rather well.”

“The time you spent in Bhodistan was rushed, if accounts of the swiftness of your journey are true. Still, you must have noticed a few things. There is only limited curiosity about the outside world, and even less ambition regarding the possibilities it offers.” Ramachandra spoke calmly, with just a hint of frustration in his voice. “The world always seems to come to _us_ , sometimes in great waves of humanity, and it shapes our perspective. So many, so very many of us... did you know that just in the regions you have crossed there are something like one-hundred million people? Such a wonderful place to live, it must be if so many invaders have made it their home over the centuries, and with so many of us to contend with we have issues of our own aplenty. Who has time to spare for thoughts of the rest of humanity?”

“A _hundred_ million?” Now I began to understand… and be glad that things were the way they were in Bhodistan. Inward-looking, yes, and for all its faults, that served a purpose. If this land were ever united, and turned its energy and people loose on the world, what chance could any nation on earth stand against them?

Bao’s thoughts were running along the same lines mine were, and he had to shake his head to be free of them. “Clearly not all Bhodistani are so insular, such as yourself. And there is this Rakshasa… what is he doing with that island of his? Preparing plots against Bhodistan, or paving the way for a path of conquest?”

“I do not know. Whatever he has been up to, he has not been providing a haven to traders. The Umayyit have not been upset with him as the shipping that used to stop there now stop at their coastal cities, and Soqotra does not even remotely come under anyone else’s jurisdiction.”

“Do you have any idea what he would want with Rilrae?” I begged, searching for some notion of a fate better than the plaything in some perverted kind of Zennana, quite possible a fatal kind.

“Well, her reputation is second only to your own in romance and bizarreness, if Abhay has told your story truly. The Rakshasa may have ransom in mind, or simple pleasures… an exotic trophy perhaps…”

Ramachandra hesitated, looking away, and so Bao asked; “You have another theory, don’t you?”

“Yes, I’m afraid I do. He may be looking for an alliance. Her parents are mysterious to me, yet they do have some power, and an Empire of sorts, do they not?”

“He couldn’t know that!” I nearly shouted. “If he knew who they were, _what_ they were… he would never have gone near her.” I glanced bang and forth between the men. Both Bao and Ramachandra seemed to have thought of something that I had not. “ _Would_ he?”

Bao looked a little pale. “Alliance, you say?”

Our Captain nodded slowly. “Indeed, the sort forged by a sudden marriage.”

My wish for something better than a Zannana for Rilrae now turned into a prayer that she avoid something that was almost certain to be much worse.

 

We passed south of Soqotra by day. From a distance it appeared to be a stark desert of yellow and orange hues that bespoke of nothing but sand and bare rock. Bright with reflected heat, even from leagues out at sea it made the desert I had passed through seem mild. For the most part, we had left the rains behind and there were just a few clouds hovering around the uplands, so brightly lit that they were difficult to look at. This was the only drawback of having the sun back for the first time since we had boarded that fairy-tale riverboat, we all felt wonderful even with that brooding island nearby. Bao and I stood near the Captain and several others on the aft deck, peering at the bleak yet dazzling landmass.

“Why are we circling the island?” I asked of Ramachandra. “Are you looking for something?”

“No. There is only one good landing place on this island, and it is on the north side.” Ramachandra took the spyglass he had been using away from his eye and passed it to Angarn. “I had hoped to arrive at night, we will have to come around and double-back at sunset. That works in our favor, the wind will be at our back most of the way.” He licked his mustache as if he were tasting the wind. “We will pass over the sandbar and be off the ship before the dawn breeze fades that my ship will need to get out of there.”

“Losing a full day in the process.” Bao grumped. “That is not a small island, have you any idea where they will be?”

Our Captain smiled. “I do indeed! That place is not so barren as it may seem to you, or from this angle. The place we are landing is one of the two habitable places. We will either take them by surprise with a pre-dawn raid right in their midst… or, we will have a bit of a hike ahead of us. The other place will be in sight once day comes upon us.”  
“How _much_  of a hike?”

“Oh, about five or ten miles inland, and possibly one more ... vertically.”

“Vertically?” My eyes snapped back to the island’s central hump, still obscured by a handful of clouds.

“At the most. That part of Soqotra is the most livable part. it has…. ah, you will have to see it to understand.” Ramachandra’s eyes had a far-away, romantic look.

Bao snapped his fingers. “First thing first. What of this landing tonight, what sort of place is it that you intend to drop us all into the middle of? I know that you prefer a more spontaneous approach, but I really must insist that you tell us everything you know about the lay of the land and what you expect to find there.”

Ramachandra did not argue or even give Bao one of his smirks. “To the chartroom.” He lead us to the most accessible room in the aft-section of the ship, full of navigational tools and a table for spreading out maps for his large collection. The parchment showing Soqotra and the isles between it and the mainland was already spread out and fastened to the table. The Captain used a brass pointer to indicate a small indent in the north coast. “Tamrinda. The Palace is here, not far inland. I know it well. When I was sixteen I and three other men managed to enter it, overpower some guards and steal away the girl I married. I believe that with 40 men at my back we should have no trouble taking the place outright.” He looked up, grinning now. “Have no fear, I would happily stake my life on the fact that one of mine can outfight two of Shahrukh’s mercenaries.”

“Another bedamned Palace.” I groaned. “What if we run up against more than eighty, could there be a hundred there?”

“The pair of you will be coming along, yes?”

“And the Rakshasa?”

“I was rather hoping that **_I myself_** would be the one to settle with him.” There was no hint of humor in his smile when Ramachandra told us that.

“You _stole_  your wife… with her connivance, I assume?” The Captain did not deny it. “This will be a different sort of thing…” I should not have pursued that, this would be a very dangerous enterprise and we had not succeeded at Kurugiri without a good plan. Before going on to that, I had to verify a suspicion of mine. “… is that the tradition here? Is kidnap, rape, and forced marriage thought to be acceptable for the males, and inescapable for the females in this part of the world?”

Ramachandra gave me a sour, almost angry look before he shrugged. “In days not long past, it was not frowned on… but the way you describe it is offensive to me. As you guessed, I did have Vina’s fond wishes on my side. However it is not a very widespread practice in this century.”

“This century…. how old are these Rakshasa?” I asked softly.

“Ah, I see your point. some of it. You are right, Shahrukh will consider himself entitled to a great many things, including influence in her realm. I do not understand much of what you said when you tried to describe her parents to me-“

“How many people live around here?” bao asked sharply.

“Hundreds, in the area I am familiar with. Some thousands, perhaps, if you include the hinterlands.” Ramacahndra’s voice went as soft an quiet as mine had. “Why do you ask?”

“Because if Rilrae’s parents discover what has happened to her before we can set it right, I believe that there won’t be a living thing within a hundred leagues of here once they are done. And I mean that it would be within _hours_.”

“I thought you said they were far away. Do you think they can fly anywhere in the world so quickly?”

“They have other ways of getting around, and if the Rakshasa is careless with his cloaking we may already be too late. Your ship is faster than his, how far ahead of us do you think he still is?”

“There is no way to know that.” Ramachandra shook his head regretfully, looking at the map. “A five-day lead could have dwindled to nothing, but to know with any certainty is impossible without knowing what sort of winds the ocean was giving him five days ahead of us. At worst, they still have the same lead on us. At best, what I am hoping for, is that they are just pulling into Tamrinda at this moment, and will either be exhausted or spent from their celebrations when we land.” He looked up at us. “I want you both to be well-rested when we arrive there, so I suggest you turn in as early as you can manage.”


	29. Chapter 29

30

 

 

 

We turned in at sunset, clinging to each other in our sack-like bed and breathing in each other’s air. I had thought it would have been difficult to drop off to slumber, knowing what was to come in just a few short hours. Bao astonished me by dropping off in mid-sentence, mulling over what we had gleaned from hours of studying the maps and then snoring gently in my face. The next thing I knew, we were in near-darkness being shaken awake by Angarn.

Ramachandra’s gift for navigation was never made more clear to us than on that night. It was the only thing that was clear as we emerged on the pitching deck. The darkness was almost total, but we could hear and feel the surf. Ocean waves were striking the beach to either side of us, short and heavy waves lifting and dropping the ship in choppy jerks. Was he bent on running us aground in pitch darkness?

“I don’t hear any surf in front of us.” Bao was right next to me with his staff in one hand and the other hooked under my arm.

“Be and your ease.” Ramachandra’s disembodied voice came to us softly from somewhere nearby. “We are over the bar and about to enter Tamrinda anchorage. I wanted you up here in case we run into any trouble, just stay right here and keep out of the way for now.”

Our senses adjusted to the dark and the silence on board. The crew was being as quiet as they could, and the vague audible hints that they were there started to reach my ears as our eyes picked up the glow of very dim lamps. They were set so low they were nearly level with the deck itself, where they would be impossible to see from shore, or from another ship. But… how could they see if there were any ships out there?

I knew how _we_  could, and I breathed the Twilight for myself and for Bao. My desire was to see the crew and our ship more clearly, and so I was startled when Bao announced “Pirate ship, dead ahead!”

“Drop the knife!” came Ramachandra’s reply. We was not speaking to us, but giving an order to his crew.

I felt something heavy slide below my feet, and then lock into place. Only then did I notice the phosphorescent outline of what was before us. It was smaller than our ship, and broadside to us. I’m not sure if I would have announced it as Bao did, but he had a better eye for such things than I. It _could_ be the smallest of Shahrukh’s fleet, and we were meeting it at the stern, near the tiller. It was not moving forward, and Ramachandra had no intention of turning away from the collision.

 

What he had called the ‘knife’ was a long blade-shaped sheet of iron hidden inside the bow. What I had felt was all that iron sliding forward and being locked in place, as a ram. It struck the ship guarding the anchorage just as the Pirate lookouts noticed us and began to shout. The ram slid into the aft quarter of that ship as smoothly as what Ramachandra had called it; a deceptively smooth plunge of the 'knife'. The squeal and crash of breaking wood inside the enemy ship was muted as it happened largely underwater, leaving Bao and I deceived into believing that the impact would remain gentle. Before the Knife was all the way in, our bow connected with the stern of the Pirate ship. In the same instant, our forward momentum ended and our ship also was jerked sideways. The other ship was pushed hard, its own bow swinging towards us as our ram ripped through it’s bowels.

I lost my footing, and then I lost my bow as Bao wrapped himself around me. We tumbled across the deck like a barrel bouncing down a rough country road, and I winced for Bao’s sake when we fetched up against the forward bulkhead. He was up on his feet instantly, staff in hand and ready to defend me as I cowered by his side. Lamps aboard our ship were un-shutered and thrown bombs caused the Pirate ship to catch fire. The darkness was banished in an instant and what followed was illuminated all to clearly.

  
My battles have been few, and I had always had my bow at hand when it mattered. Mabon’s bow was nowhere to be seen, searching for it would have meant leaving Bao’s side, and it still shames me to think that I stayed where I was to stay within the protection that his staff offered. Not only the darkness, but the silence had been shattered as well, and the noises all around us were dreadful… and bloody. Ramachandra’s crew leapt to the attack, but so did the Pirates. Three of them crossed onto our ship and went for Bao.

They ignored the woman huddled on the deck, _me_ , and while two of them kept him busy the third worked his way in around behind him, intent on striking at his back with an ax. I have never had any cause to use my dagger in this sort of combat, my skill in doing so is practically nonexistent. The threat to Bao and the Pirate’s cavalier attitude towards me deserved retaliation. With barely a thought I drew my dagger and drove it through that man’s bare foot and into the deck beneath, nailing him firmly in place. Then, I _did_ leave Bao, rolling across the deck and out of the reach of that screaming Pirate’s ax. Guided by that scream, Bao cracked the Pirate’s head with the butt of his staff without having to look back, and quickly put down the pair in front of him.

This was the end of our immediate danger, I scrambled along the deck to collect my bow, and Bao collected me a moment later. Once we made sure that we were both unharmed, we looked about us to see what else had been happening around us.

Ramachandra’s men had carried the day, or rather; the night, in less time that it takes to read about it. Numbers were on their side, as was surprise and the foolishness of the Pirates who moored their ship directly across the path of any incoming ships… the very danger they had been placed there to defend against. Their little ship was now burning well and our allies were struggling to push our ship away from it. I felt a flash of anger when I saw those straining backs bent over poles, men who I thought should have helped Bao and I when we needed them. Yet I could not hold a grudge, they succeeded in prying the ships apart before ours could catch fire. The hull we had rammed sank quickly, but not very deep. The water was so shallow that the mast was still fully visible. Our Captain sent men out on a small boat to chop it down, and I asked why this task seemed so urgent.

Angarn was close enough to answer; “The fire may have been seen, or it might not have been. At dawn we want it to appear that the same number of ships are here as there were yesterday… should anyone look.”

“Yes, but… “ Bao looked to me, not able to give his confusion the proper words.

“What makes you think that they can’t tell the difference between this ship and that one? Where do you think the rest of these people are? And that damned Shahrukh?”

“Ask _them_ ,” she said, pointing to a patch of water that appeared empty at first.

Ramachandra had been towing his ship's boat behind him as we entered the anchorage. As soon as battle had been joined, it had been cut free of it’s towline and sailed deeper into Tamrinda to scout for other ships. The men aboard ignored the battle and only when the appeared, Ghost-like from out of the low-lying smoke, did I become aware of them at all. “Four more ships out there, not two as we expected.” They reported, with a glance at me. “Three are beached, hauled clear as if they mean to stay a while. The big one had just a couple of guards and a cabin boy, they didn’t give us much trouble.”

Bao and I exchanged looks. We were sailing with dangerous men, fully the equal of Pirates when it came to violence. We were counting on there being a difference between Ramachandra’s men and Shahrukh’s horde, yet the avarice in their eyes made me wonder.

“And what of the Pasha’s Palace?” The Captain asked.

“Just one light showing, and that didn’t change.”

Ramachandra nodded slowly, he had been expecting this news, perhaps dreading it. “Then they have gone into the mountains.” He turned to us. “It will be dawn soon enough, then you will be able to see what I am talking about. Make yourselves ready for an overland trek, two or three days worth at least. “And….” He glanced around, at his crew and his ship. For the first time since we met him he appeared indecisive, hesitant.

“Yes?”

“These extra ships. They change things, even if I believe that one of mine are worth two of their’s in a fight, the odds have gone beyond that now. We have to start thinking in more stealthy terms.”

Bao nodded. “I’m sure you have heard that we have some experience with that.”

“Of course, and thank you for spotting that ship when you did. You saved us a good deal of trouble.”

"There is something else, isn’t there?” I asked Ramachandra carefully. “If those are not Shahrukh’s ships…”

Ramachandra finished for me; “Then your theory about a wedding may be perfectly accurate, and his guests have arrived.”

I felt too sick at heart to ask any more questions. A forced marriage, the worst fate that most women can imagine. Unlike all the rest, Rilrae would be forced to marry a monster, in the literal meaning of the word.

It fell to Bao to ask what needed to be asked; “How much of a head start do they have on us?”

“According to the prisoners we questioned, two days if we start early in the morning. They may not even have arrived at their destination yet.”

“Good, what sort of terrain can we expect.”

Ramachandra snorted and gave Bao a lopsided grin. “Ah, the 'terrain', good word. You can expect a soggy desert, deceptive mountains, and after that things will become… _strange_.”


	30. Chapter 30

31

 

 

His description was proven to be perfectly accurate.  
The Pasha’s Palace had never been anything grand enough to deserve the title of ‘palace’. Years before it had been conquered, perhaps by Shahrukh or some confederate of his. The outer walls were dingy, whole sheets of white stucco had fallen away from the brick walls, and animals grazed in the gardens. Ramachandra’s scouts had investigated it before dawn, and found nothing but a few female servants and one middle-aged guard, none of them put up any fight. The place had been turned over to the enjoyment of the lesser thugs in this organization, all of whom were either "dead or fled" as Ramachandra put it.

Shahrukh had something better for himself, and his guests. Ramachandra was certain that it would be in the purple Mountains looming to the south of us, and we had no reason to doubt him. One look at those mountains, and we all knew that our path lead us to them. They were not so cold or forbidding as Kurugiri had been. Formidable, yes, and stark, but there was a warmth there that I could not define. Someone like Shahrukh did not belong there. If it could be done, I would see to it that he did not remain for much longer.

And more importantly, we had a wedding to spoil.

A “soggy” desert it certainly was. Our anchorage was just the outlet of a boggy creek, and beyond that was the oasis that fed it. If there is one thing that is more miserable than a Desert, if is a humid one. At midday we paused in the shade of the last of the Palm trees. Aside from myself, Ramachandra and Bao were just four of Ramachandra’s men that would continue on with us.

“I consider seven to be a lucky number, and this is the largest group that can pass unnoticed or appear unthreatening if spotted from a distance.”  
He had even dressed his men and himself as shepherds, Bao and I had followed suit as best we were able. I have never enjoyed wearing anything like a head-scarf, but when the sun was high overhead I learned the value of it quickly enough. I also worried that a party of seven would be too many to avoid attracting attention and too few to make a difference against the sort of horde that five ships could have deposited here. There was little opportunity to worry myself over such things that first day, by the time we reached the base of the mountains I felt like a sponge that had been wrong out once too often, and was now crumbling to bits an pieces. I had been living well for too long, and gone too soft.

The soft sand and upward path slowed everyone, yet the distance was not so terribly great as it felt to me. The afternoon was not halfway done when we left the sand behind and started to climb into the mountains.

“One last rest before we push on to a campsite.” Ramachandra announced, scant heartbeats before I would have started to beg him to stop.

Bao lifted me to a comfortable seat on a tawny rock. “How are you holding up?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” was my testy response.

“With you it can be hard to tell.” He smiled in that way I had come to love. “Always so imperturbable, you have a habit of hiding how bad you are feeling.”

That made me feel much better. If I did not look as if I were falling apart, then perhaps I could cope with what was to come next.

Everyone was looking back, rather than ahead and upwards. I turned away from the trials to come to see what they were so interested in. Our ship and the anchorage would hopefully appear the same as it had the day before. With it’s sails down Ramachandra’s ship seemed little different from the Pirate vessels, now anchored at bow and stern to hold it in the same place that the sunken guard ship had been. The men we had left behind were hard at work, ransacking those other ships and sabotaging all but one of them to insure that they could not be used to follow us when it came time to make our escape.

I could see traces of the path we had taken, it vanished short of where we had begun to climb into the rocks. There was no sign that it had been used by pack animals, nor was there any trash where we now sat, sipping from water skins, I had seen no debris at all.

“Captain Ramachandra … this is not the same route taken by Shahrukh, surely?”

He smiled at me and nodded. “Surely not.” He pointed to the right, and from our vantage point a road was visible. It angled away from us into a valley that was miles from the notch in the mountains that we were headed for. Our path was clearly steeper, there was no discernible path above us at all.

“Good. We won’t have to worry about any ambush or observers. But how will we be able to find the place he _went_?”

“Once we are on the other side of that,” he jerked a thumb at the cliffs looming darkly above us, “we will be able to see where he has gone.” Ramachandra sounded very sure of himself.

“We must have the luck of the Gods on our side.” Bao observed, “having a man who is personally familiar with this remote place to guide us.”

The Captain laughed. “This, and a hundred other places touched by this ocean. I am curious about the world around me, unlike so many of my countrymen, and so are my crew. There is not a shore between Mnekhet and Ch’in that one or the other of us has failed to explore at some point in our lives.” He then grimaced at looked back at where the dilapidated Palace lay. “Although I will admit, this is one of the few that has a personal significance to me.”

“Your wife-“

“Is still something I do not like to talk about.”

 

The mountains were deceptive indeed; I had assumed we were headed for a cliff and I was dreading the climb ahead of us. Two of the men with us carried rope, so it was a reasonable assumption and one that Bao shared. He was constantly looking up at the rock formations overhead. He saw it first, and put and arm around me as we turned a corner.

The cliff was not solid. I don’t think that anyone could have spotted the break from more than ten paces away, it was the kind of thing that only Goatherds would have found… or lovers escaping the wrath of an angry father. The ‘path’ was steep, rocky and treacherous, just a narrow space between a sheet of vertical stone and the cliff next to it. I was about to ask Bao to fulfill his promise to carry me when we reached to top, for there was still more climbing to do, and that was when things began to change for me.

Off to one side of the ravine we had entered, there was one of the plants I had seen in my vision a month before. It was growing from a crack in the face of yet another cliff, a tree with a few tiny leaves and a fat, barrel-shaped trunk. I wanted to touch it, but the tree grew out of reach far overhead. Here was irrefutable proof that we were on the right track, that I had seen things correctly, and that the Gods still had faith in me.

Aneal, my gentle farmer and the most kindly of my familiar presences. I fell to my knees in gratitude, giving my thanks in prayer. I felt something wonderful course briefly over my body where I touched the ground. Rocky and sandy though it was, it was still the life-giving Earth that however different, was part of the same whole that made up Alba, the field of flowers back in Bhaktipur, and other places that I had not yet seen.

Bao bent to help me up. I allowed him to do so, hugged him, and felt my weariness fall away from me.

“Moirin… ?” Bao watched me curiously, and I felt his smile as he watched me quicken. I was soon at the head of our group, touching the greenery that became more common the father we progressed into a winding canyon.

The depth of the canyon brought us into a cool and dim evening well before sunset. I thought Ramachandra would call a halt, but he pressed onwards, eyes searching for something ahead of us. I was beginning to flag again when he stopped, smiled and pointed. “I could not help noticing that you have an affinity for plants. Let us have a look, we will be camping nearby for the night.”

Visions can be much like drawings occasionally, giving little warning of what the reality will be. I wanted to feel as if I was back in my environment, yet this tree before me was truly the strangest I have ever seen. The trunk was an ashen-white that rose twice the hight of a man before branching out. The branches were nearly the same thickness for their full length until they ended in a tuft of tiny leaves. These tufts formed a perfect dome, and the tree had a scent that I could not associate with anything else familiar to me.

We we left the trail and picked our way through the rocks to get closer, and when he was within reach of the truck, Ramachandra drew a knife and slashed the bark. “We call them Dragon Blood trees, so don’t be alarmed. What you see is common to them.”

The sap beading in the cut was blood-red.

I _did_  feel alarm, and slapped my hand over the cut Ramachandra had made. This tree was old and vulnerable, clinging to life in a difficult place. Healing the gash was all I intended to do, my energy quickened the thoughts of the wounded tree. It was aware of me, in a way similar to the one that Elua had planted, and once again I was surprised by what I heard;

* _Thank you_.*

“ _I’m sorry he hurt you, he was trying to impress me.”_

* _You…. have healed me …. all is well…. Yeva? Have you come back to us?_ *


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I feel as if I have lost my way here... I am going to have to go back and re-read this book and probably the one that came before, as well as a good bit of Moirin's tales.  
> I;m afraid I have lost her voice, and some of what I wanted to do with this. The chapters keep getting harder and shorter; that can't be a good sign. 
> 
> I'd like to say March, but it may take me until April to start churning out a regular flow of Chapters again.  
> And after that, I can go back and re-make the middle book into something worth while.
> 
> So, apologies to those who are still with me, but I really need to re-group.
> 
> "I shall return!"

32

 

 

That evening, we were gathered around a small campfire. All eyes were upon me and my eyes were on the tree, once I had done with removing that cloying sap from my hand.

“That sap is used to make resin and varnish.” Ramachandra watched me work at the sticky stuff, and shrugged. “I would have warned you if I had any idea that you were going to do that. There is something else…” He paused, glancing at Bao as his men leaned fractionally closer, keen to understand something of what they had seen. “Moirin, you are known to have a certain understanding when it comes to plant-life. You _healed_ that tree, and if it not too rude to say such a thing, you seemed to go into a trance for a moment there. Were the gods talking to you?”

“No, the tree was.”

“Oh,” The Captain and his men did not appear to doubt me. Rather than that, they doubted that a tree would have anything interesting to say. They turned back to their pans of rice, ready to dismiss the event. Piqued by this, I hastened to add;

“It mistook me for Yeva.”

At first, world-wise Ramachandra was the only one that looked back at me. Even Bao did not know the reference, I myself would not have understood what that name meant had it not been for the Patriarch of Riva’s hateful lessons in the faith he had been perverting. “The first woman?”

“According to the Yeshuite creed, yes.” I blinked, and tore my eyes away from the tree, smiling at Ramachandra, and Bao, and the rest of them. “Before you start; no, I don’t think that the famous couple were the first _people_ , that is not the impression that I received here. It is hard to put into words, what I felt was more like the memory of a memory of a feeling… but I think that they were the first spiritual people. This first with a greater awareness of the world around them than survival.”

I was struggling with my words by then, and I was also a bit skeptical of it myself, yet I could have said more if Ramachandra had not clapped his hands and stood up with a smile that glowed in the semi-darkness. “The Garden of Edom! Ah, we are not the first to suspect that it was here, but you are the first to give us such a sign.”

Bao put a hand on my shoulder, and it felt a bit cold as he pondered the implications. “What does this Demon-Man we are following want with such a place?” Ramachandra shrugged, and I had no answer either. “But he must have been planning on something, he took control of this place years ago, but have we seen any signs that he has been making any improvements here?” Again, Ramachandra shrugged, and then shook his head. “It is very unlikely he even knew Rilrae existed back then, but when he found her he tried to take her here, and then he had ships ready to make sure that he could force her to come with him … here!”

Bao reared back, hand heavier than ever on my shoulder, and I could feel his diadh-anam cringe inside his chest.

“What is it?” I begged to know.

“Don’t you see? A new kind of people were created here once. Could he be attempting to make _another_ new kind of people?”

Bao’s question left us reeling, for the only time in my life I saw Ramachandra looking as if he thought be might be out of his depth. For me, I thought that there would be no sleep that night. I would have loved to hug Bao till dawn, and as comforting as that might have been, it would have given us no answers. Picking my way carefully over the broken ground, I returned to the weird tree and sat down with my back to it’s trunk with a heavy blanket to cover me. I flipped my hair to one side so that my bare neck would be in contact with the tree’s bark, and settled in to commune with the life within.

 

My thoughts slowed to match those of this tree with its sap as red as blood… Dragon’s blood? That in itself was either an incredible consequence, or something that I could barely even think about-

* _By all means, think*_

And there it was, thin and soft, similar to I would expect from someone nearly asleep. Eyes closed, not yet dreaming but very close. “Hello, are you feeling well?”

* _You know I am_ *

This was different, I was being chastised by a tree?

* _Not chastised, ask what you mean to. We remember;_ * I felt what was being remembered, over many past cycles of seedling to tree to husk to seed again, over and over for millennia. There was nothing to “see”, trees have no eyes, yet there were impressions left… impressions felt by senses that were similar to a combination of taste & smell, and feeling and hearing. Not hearing as we would understand it, it came to me as collections of sparkles dancing in darkness. Stone and Sea; this was how they perceived me! Patterns that told them about the slow march of seasons and other things that mattered to them.

One of those things had been a presence of great power, so very long ago. There were also two other presences, vastly smaller and lesser, but they grew over the years. They were loud, flighty and frivolous, until one day they suddenly were not. They brightened, and slowed down, becoming more thoughtful and deliberate. Their laughter faded, not dying entirely as they contemplated the mystery of each other, themselves and the wider world all about them. One of them, Yeva, had slept leaning against a tree of the same sort I was now leaning on, and dreamed of making the tree whole again. When she awoke, the lightning-sundered crown of the tree had regrown.

The pair left this place shortly after, so soon in the perceptions of the trees that it may have been immediately after that, or a fraction of a season. The greater presence faded, slowly, but it did seem that the world had forgotten about this place. Always hot, it had dried out as the rains became infrequent (ah, but when they came, a glorious riot of Green always returns!) and animals died off, cutting part of the symbiotic cycle that had kept the environment so vibrant.

Somehow, the plant life here remembered its former glory, and with a characteristic lack of self-pity, they endured their thin and precarious existence and awaited the next change in their fortunes, or oblivion. Either way, change was the one thing that was inevitable.

 

So there it was. Ramachandra was right, this _was_  the Garden.

Or, what remained of it. Few birds, fewer animals of other sorts, and a human population so sparse that we could have wandered for weeks without meeting anyone at all. But, if it had ‘faded’ away, then Shahrukh could not be planing to take advantage of any residual magic here-

* _Faded, not gone_ *

The residual presence was still enough to preserve the remnants of the Garden in a place where no such thing should exist. Something had happened here that should not happen again. Human spirituality was done, a full vessel that had only to be experienced and exploited by the individual endowed with it. Shahrukh and Rilrae were _not_ Human, what sort of empowerment was that Rakshasa seeking here?

 


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again!

33

 

 

 

In the morning, we rose and did what people do after a night spent out in the open, and then we trudged onward through the narrow and rocky canyons. I am fairly certain that is what we were doing, in truth my memory of that early morning is hazy. My head was still swimming in what had been revealed to me the night before. Bao looked at me more than once and remarked on my “dreamy smile”.

Dreams, again.  
What was it about them? This thread that ran though our journey with Rilrae, what did it mean now, a warning to expect strange an illogical things?

At mid-morning, I think that Ramachandra was more surprised that the rest of us by what we found. He rounded a corner and stood very still where our little canyon met a deep valley. His hand came up slowly, a needless gesture for us to stay still and away from him. He backed away so slowly that his movement was barely perceptible. “Look for a place up above or to the side, with bushes or some sort of cover. A place where our heads can peek over the edge without changing the line where rock meets sky.”

What we saw below kept us busy with simply observing it for more than half an hour. Enormous changes had been wrought in that valley since Ramachandra had last seen it. To the left was a lush valley, such a lovely sight in contrast with everything else in this island, and also beautiful in it’s own right. It would have been a wonderful sight anywhere in the world, with newly sprouted grass and Palm Trees and little ponds fed by shallow streams in perfectly proportioned elegance. To our right, down towards where the valley would fall into the desert, there was nothing but bare rock. The soil and sand had been scraped away in a mind-boggling display of ruthless industry. There was nothing to see but a road chiseled from solid rock and a few hanging bridges made of rope. That road had been made to be seen, so that anything moving along it could be observed, and challenged, but what towered above it.

Directly across the valley from us was a castle, or a fortress… or a small city to an Alban. There were castles in Bhodistan that dwarfed anything of the kind in Terre d’Ange, I had seen some of them from a distance. The walls were as tall as the tallest tree I had ever seen, and above that rose whole buildings that were just as much taller. Not small buildings, either, half a dozen of that would be impressive in their own right. This was not all, a massive dam or dyke had been constructed to hold back the soil and water of the upper valley.

The sailors with us were muttering;

“Fifteen years…?”

“Yes, how could so much have been done in so little time?”

“Where did all the stone come from?”

“Where did all the dirt… go. Oh no.”

That last was from Bao, and I watched his eyes flick from the bare rock of the lower valley to the looming castle. A strange thought came to me, and the chill in my heart matched the one in Bao. “Look, there are no seams. It all has a bit of a shine to it, almost like glass.”

Ramachandra shook his head. “What are you saying?”

“I think you already know. This is like a sand-castle. Glass comes from sand, does it not? All you would need to do is use enough heat, and … no, does this even sound right?”

Bao shook his head. “I am still trying to wrap my head around the amount of labor this would have required. And in so little time. How many men… how many slaves…”  
“How many were worked to death in the process, I wonder?”

Ramachandra ground his teeth together. “Let us not think of such things, but instead let us ponder what that says about what sort of world this would become if Shahrukh has his way.”

 The way to that Fortress was not a long journey, a couple of hours at the most. It was also just as exposed as the road coming up from the coast, and even easier for the men watching from the walls to defend against. A grassy field half a league wide lay before the final barrier; a wide moat where the gate had been closed. Interestingly, the draw-bridge was still down.

It would be high noon by the time we could reach that place, with the sun directly overhead and not a shadow in sight.

“Well, it looks as if we should bed down and rest as best we can for now,” Ramachandra advised us as we pulled back from our vantage point. “There is no point in trying to sneak into that place until after dark.”

Bao and I exchanged smiles. “What if we could bring some of the night with us?”

 

It took some time to explain how I was able to draw the Twilight and use it to remain unseen. Ramachandra was intrigued. “That _does_ explain how you were able to do some of what the tales attribute to you.”

His men, on the other hand, wanted no part of it. All but a stout fellow named Bann drew back when I demonstrated it for them. It was suddenly a very real thing to them, not only my witchery, but the fact that they would be doing battle with a fearsome Rakshasa that could create things like the vast fortress before them. Ramachandra cursed and cajoled them, but they would not be moved, and only Bann would walk with us in my magical shadows. Our Captain made the best use he could of them, he organized them into an ambush to cover our escape. On pain of gaining an infamous reputation for themselves, he had them swear that they would wait for us, hidden in the bushes and ready to spring traps and roll boulders down on our pursuers when we returned that night.

“You sound very sure that we will be returning tonight.” Bao remarked when the others were out of earshot.

“The gate is closed. The guests are all in that place, and the revels will begin at dusk… unless it already happened last night.”

I thumped his shoulder. “I don’t care if you were just thinking aloud, no more of _that_ , aye?”

 

The journey down to the valley floor was quick and easier than our climb up the other side had been. One advantage of the Twilight in how it throws everything into such sharp relief. Bann and Ramachandra became used to it quickly, taking advantage of my magic in the way of men who had spent a lifetime exploiting any advantage they can find.

The valley was so lush, so fragile, I would have dearly loved to spend more time there to simply stroke the foliage and learn something of these rare and precious life-forms. It was not to be, we thought we had to hurry across the valley before my hold on the Twilight weakened. We thought that I might even have had trouble holding it that long, and when we arrived Bao asked me how I was holding up. I was surprised to find that I felt as strong as I had when we had started. “This land, it must be feeding me, somehow. I don’t feel diminished at all, I think I could keep this up all day!”

Bao liked that idea, but Ramachandra felt otherwise. “You have no magic to alert Rilrae to our presence without letting the Rakshasa know as well, do you? We will have find some way to pass her a message, and failing that, we will have to let her _see_ you, at some point.”

“Must we?”

He winked. “Take the word of a man who has been known to spirit away closely guarded young ladies. It is practically impossible to do so without the connivance of the lady in question.” The Captain thought for a moment. “Pardon the indelicacy of the question, but has she seen either of you naked, and has Shahrukh _not_ see you so?”

The serious nature of the situation forced us to answer truthfully. Bao snapped; “She has, HE has not.”

I had to correct him; “He did, for your part. Remember the fight on the barge?” I turned to Ramachandra. “Dare I ask WHY you are asking this? I never heard that naked people were part of any wedding ceremony.”

“No, but debauchery and excess will be part of this gathering, and dancing girls are known for being scandalous… yet those from the Umayyat often wear veils to cover their faces.” He shrugged. “It is something to consider… ah, don’t mind me, still thinking aloud, I suppose.”

 

The Fortress loomed above us like another tawny cliff. This one was unnaturally smooth, devoid of hand-holds of any sort. Even Bao’s skills could gain us nothing there. That dreadful wall even had it’s outer defenses. The many streams of the valley had been channeled together to fill the moat, and then flow over the dyke in a waterfall that we could hear but not see. There was also an outer bastion, a small castle in it’s own right, astride the approach to the drawbridge itself. An outpost is only as good as the men guarding it, and these half-dozen soldiers were surly and bored, so disinterested in their duty that it was easy to slip past them.

“This must be a punishment, standing duty out here and missing out of the festivities.”

I nodded to Bao. “A poor decision on Shahrukh’s part, let us hope he has made others.”

The drawbridge presented an odd picture. There was only one chain on one side to pull it up with, instead of one on each side. Ramachandra smirked. “This bridge is too heavy, too solid. One chain may have snapped, or they haven’t brought enough iron to forge two chains strong enough to lift it, yet.”

“This place is unfinished?”

“I would say so, Daikini. Snatching up your Rilrae was an impulsive thing for him to do, given the grand scale of this Rakshasa’s plans.”

“And still, he took her anyway.” Bao mused, and then his diadh-anam flared in alarm.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Oh… nothing we should think about now.” He was looking down the moat, towards the waterfall. “This place does have an unfinished air about it. I just hope that this dyke that is holding back this part of the valley is as good & solid as it looks!”


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back too a weekly input schedule, but perhaps not next week. I have to spend 3 days out of touch at the coast.  
> Yeah, I know, some of us just have it so tough... ;)

34

 

 

The gate was a portcullis, not a solid door at all but a grillwork of stout iron bars. The bars were set just far apart enough to be tempting, just far enough that it looked as if one of us might be able to squeeze between them. From halfway across the bridge, things looked different. The bars were festooned with spikes jutting outward and towards each other, turning the whole thing into a grisly trap.

“Only a snake could get through that.” Bann said.

Bao was about to disagree, but then he made a sour face and said; “I believe they may already have.” The bars were decorated with random curls and wormy lines that resolved themselves into the outlines of snakes. Not large ones, but the smaller and most poisonous types. Even with the Twilight, it was difficult to tell if they were real and moving a bit, or more iron. “There should be sally-ports, small doors to allow for escape or select access.”

“Aye, but we don’t have time to find any Secret Doors, now do we?” I put my hand on the iron chain, which was shoulder-height to me at this part of the bridge. All eyes followed mine to the hole in the wall where the chain passed through it. From where I was standing it looked large enough to allow us passage, if we could crawl on our bellies. I hesitated, and gave the chain a push that made no impression on it at all. Bao touched it as well, and gave me a questioning look.  
“If there are bells hanging from the other end…”

“Lets have a look!” Bann was about to stroll up to the portcullis and look between the bars, having grown used to being invisible. He was being careless, and Bao’s hand came down firmly on his shoulder.

“You must stay close by Moirin, remember?”

Ramachandra uncoiled some of his rope, a silent laugh shaking him as he did so. “In any event, the chain will not lead to that corridor. The machinery for working those chains will be in a chamber of it’s own, walled off from access to all but the garrison.” Rather considerately, he loped a part of the rope around each of us, separated by just a few paces. “In case one of us should lose our grip. Ah… you wish to be first, Bao? Very well, I shall take up the rear.” He made his mustache wiggle. “Just this once.”  
I was right behind Bao, following his instructions and watching his example carefully as he hauled himself up the chain. The links were large and easy to grip, but coated with something meant to prevent rusting. It was slimy and powdery at the same time, and I found that if I could grip the link ahead of me it made pulling myself along a simple thing. Simple, as long as I could ignore the way each link wanted to bruise me. The only truly difficult part was at the end, where the angle was steepest and the hole proved too narrow for Bao to wriggle through with his staff over his back. He passed it back to me, and I in turn passed it to him once he was through. Bao also helped pull me through, and I marveled at how he was able to wriggle through such a tight space on his own.

Bann was easy, he was tall yet had the concave look of someone who had not had second helpings at the dinner table since childhood. For Ramashandra it was far more difficult. He had to pass his pack and even his sword belt up to us before he could even attempt to enter the hole, and then he slipped. The very rope he had been so generous with helped save his _own_ life, and from a plunge and a splash that surely would have altered the Guards.

As he had predicted, we found ourselves in a room that was separated from the main entrance. It was also a floor above it, mostly filled with a large drum for winding the chain around. Bao checked the one door leading out of the room and found the corridor beyond it empty. “All clear, you can relax now Moirin.”

I sagged against the drum, and let go of the Twilight. The climb had been more tiring than the magic, and after a day and a half of marching around I felt wrung-out. Bann and Ramachandra thought I had done remarkably well on the chain, and that helped my self-esteme, but we had a new problem. All of us now had hands and boot-tops smeared with black filth, as well as a broad line of that gunk covering our fronts from neck to crotch. We were also bathed in sweat, and the confined space was giving our over-heated bodies no relief. The wool and leather shepherd’s garb had served us well for the climb, but now we badly needed something else. Despite the Captain being a font of knowledge about fortifications, we would never be able to pass and drudges or workers tasked with maintaining this place; we didn’t have the slightest idea where anything was!

No, we had to find a way to pretend to be guests. Only in that way could our lack of knowledge, let alone our accents, be explained.

Ramachandra was already looking for a way. His face was close to an arrow slit looking down on the portcullis. With a whisper, he informed us; “I didn’t see anything at first, but now I do. Three guards… and they are settling up with a prostitute of some sort. Dressed just as I thought, hardly anything covered between her hips and her neckline. What the Guards have is hardly custom-fitted.”

I sighed, Ramachandra’s scarcely concealed desire to see me nearly naked and parading around this place seemed destined to come true.

Bao, however, was shaking his head. There was no sign of a staircase leading downward beyond our only exit. "Stairs going up, and more halls on this level, I think, but nothing close enough to get there in time… unless they are paying her in advance.”

Ramachandra shook his head, and I sagged with relief. “She is already leaving. I did not think we could get that lucky, and it is too soon in any case. We have six or seven hours, and we can’t be spending all that time pretending to be Guards waiting to be relieved. We have to prepare an escape route, and cause enough confusion to allow us to get out of here alive with a very recognizable Princess in tow. That, and acquiring a change of clothes, ought to keep us very busy.”

 

He was right.

The first thing we wanted to do was find and unused room. From there we could plan an escape and leave Ramachandra’s rope hidden away. In this, we were more than successful, we discovered whole wings that were not only unoccupied, but unfinished. This was in the up-valley end of Shahrukh’s abode, the end that did not have a view of the scarred ruin he had made of the lower valley. Instinctively, we all knew that he would have turned his back on the beauty of the very place he was trying to make use of. In this wing there were no furnishings, no decorative works from floor to ceiling, and in places there was trash and flakes of sand partly fused with glass.

However, we were not completely alone there. A woman crossed our path dressed in a strange, somewhat military livery consisting of an open-fronted tunic, a pleated leather skirt, sandals, and grieves and vambraces. It looked a bit foolish to me, as if she were play-acting at being a soldier of some sort, but the spear she held was certainly not for decoration. She barked a challenge at us in rapid-fire Umayyati that none of us could understand, and when we did not respond she threw her spear at Ramachandra. Bao slapped it aside with his staff, but the woman had already turned away and ran down the hall with a sneering laugh.

She was gone from our sight before I could string my bow.


	34. Chapter 34

35

 

 

 

Cursing in way I had recently learned from these sailors, I finished with my bow and took off running after her.

Bann and Ramachandra did not hesitate to follow. “There will of course be a trap-“

“Then stop looking at Moirin!” Bao snapped as he caught up to me.

It was more difficult this time. What Shahrukh had done to the friendly soil of this land went deeper than fusing it into glassy shapes that were pleasing to him. “I don’t know if I will be able to do this again until we get back outside.”

We ran until we found her, standing in an intersection of hallways with a haughty look on her face, awaiting us as if she intended to face us all down. Looking back over our shoulders, we could see five men standing in ambush behind stone columns. Bao and Ramachandra both dealt swiftly and brutally with a pair of thugs each, while Bann disarmed one and slammed him to the floor. I settled with the smirking harridan in my own way, grabbing her by the neck and sweeping her legs out from under her. She did not hit the wall hard enough to be knocked out, laying on the floor with both hands clapped to her neck and horrified at the way my had had felt on her skin. She must have been even more horrified to see me standing above her when I released the Twilight, and the woman saw me standing 4 paces from her with bow drawn and an arrow pointed straight at her face.

I must admit, I reveled in her look of terror, the submission writ large in her absolute stillness, and I have no reason to feel any guilt about it. She had deliberately lead us to what she thought was our death, and would have gleefully watched us being slaughtered by her comrades.

Why? The fact that such people exist is known to me, and yet I always find it strange, alien, a very twisted way for people to think. And so, I looked _into_  her…

While I did, the men behind me were in a quandary Bao and Ramachandra had killed both of their foes, and Bann had not. We had no way to deal with captives of any sort, something that he and I had not thought of in the heat of the moment. Needless to say, it is a very different thing to kill someone after you have disarmed them and have them helpless at your feet. A live captive is also a priceless source of information, and information was something we desperately needed just then.

Before any argument could begin, I had what I needed, and cleared my throat to attract their attention. Bao and Ramachandra came to me immediately while Bann put our male captive to work stripping his late companions of anything useful. I was able to relax my arm at last, and tell them what I had seen.

“These are some of the retainers of one of _His_ guests, an ally … I cannot get names this way.” Ramachandra snapped out a quick question, and my prisoner answered ‘Anjuli’, more sullen than afraid now. She could manipulate men, she was here as proof of that, but she dreaded me for some reason. “Right, she serves a Lady that is an even nastier piece of work than Anjuli here, they both enjoy teasing, using and then killing men with various schemes and poisons. They know exactly what Shahrukh is and what he is all about. They were out exploring this wing as the ceremony does not start for some hours yet, looking for something useful to their mistress, and would have claimed to be on patrol if found by Shahrukh's men. We would have justified that excuse admirably if they had managed to kill us.”

“Kill us, not capture?” Ramachandra asked.

“Yes, their mistress rewards them for bringing back heads, just the heads.”

“I heard something I didn’t like in your voice when you spoke just now.” He pressed me, and I cannot blame him for doing so. “What _is_  this 'all about?'”

I ground my teeth together, and I must have given Anjuli a dreadful look. She whined and backed into a corner. “What this is about… is just as we feared. Shahrukh wants to transform Bhodistan into an expansive power, an Empire with Colonial ambitions. Don’t scoff, Captain, he thinks he has found a way. A direction, to be more exact. Where would the people of your land expand towards, eh? To the west is wasteland, mountains, or a long ocean voyage to the resource-poor and perplexing land beyond this island. Not a good path if you want to impress people with a quick profit. North are the most massive mountains on Earth, and then Ch’in or Tatar lands, no easy conquest there either. South is nothing but vast oceans. East, that is a possibility, yet with all the jungles and masses of armed and intractable natives, what can even Bhodistan do there in the long run?” I took a deep breath before going on. “But there is another power out there, just beginning to be noticed here. An odd yet vast place with strange at terrible guardians that even a Rakshasa could not overcome. However…. he could manipulate them, if he had their daughter in his power.”

Bao hissed through his teeth, and leaned forward on his staff. The end of his staff was on Anjuli’s chest, he put enough pressure on it that her breathing was cut off. While she gasped, protested wordlessly and slowly lost conciseness, Bao spoke in harsh whisper; “Rilrae! He will use her to get at Merrin and Sushulana. Caught between Nova Angelica and his puppets in Bhodistan, Shahrukh will be able to conquer everything south of Ch’in. There is much to conquer there... and once he has, what will be able to quench his cohort’s thirst for more?”

Ramachandra was shaking his head, and shushing Anjuli as she passed out. “He would have to alter the very fabric of our society to do something like that.”

“It would _be_  altered, simply by the chain of events I am describing, would it not?”

He started to protest, but as the events described formed a full picture in his head, Ramachandra had to nod. “Over the course of generations, perhaps it could become so. It is difficult to comprehend. I am trying to see things as a Rakshasa would.”

Bao removed his staff from Anjuli and knelt to gingerly remove her clothing, careful to avoid pricking himself on anything that might be poisonous as he up-ended her pockets and searched her satchel. “The minds of the long-lived travel strange paths. This enemy of ours has reason to despise the Gods, and a desire to overthrow their plans. What better way than convincing the people of Bhodistan to abandon the teachings of those Gods? Over the course of many generations enough will come to see it his way. Hmmm… and many others will _not_. Even if he does succeed, you will have a divided society on your hands. Not a fate I would wish on anyone, and certainly not such a vast land as yours.”

“The Gods would never stand for it!” Ramachandra came as close to blustering as I had ever seen him. “They would set obstacles in his path, send Devas to drive him mad -“

“Aye, and here we are.” The irony of the situation made me smile, perhaps a bit more than I intended to, but Bao smiled as well.

Our Captain threw up his hands. “Are you certain you weren’t sent to drive ME mad?”

 

We found a profusion of weapons, a few coins and no papers of any use to us on our fallen foes. There were also some small flasks and tiny blades from Anjuli that none of us wanted anything to do with. The most useful thing was a wax tablet with wooden covers that these men had been using to map the place out. This I considered to be a bon beyond compare, but there was another problem. The only set of Guard’s clothing that would fit Bao was stained with blood, and it would take at least an hour to alter some of the gear to hide this evidence of recent violence. Bann shrugged philosophically at the delay and said that we had time for that. "It will give us time to take care of our prisoners." I didn't like hearing those words. "Be at ease, I have an idea. Captain, have you ever heard the tale of how the Tiger and the Panther made peace?”

“Another of your back-woods fables?” Ramachandra shook his head. “If it keeps them out of trouble for half a day, I am all for it.”

With a multitude of empty rooms all around us, it was not difficult to find a place to hide four dead men and the things we had no use for. What was difficult for me was helping to drag the corpses to where we wanted them. I could understand Rilrae’s aversion to the dead by the end of it, and I could not have made myself wear Anjuli’s clothes if she had died in them. The bodies were also very heavy, a grim fact in itself, making me glad to doff the shepherd’s garb. I did not dress myself until I was done helping Bao with his own clothes, as Ramachandra and Bann were busy elsewhere. By the time we were done, they had still not appeared. We could hear them in a room down the hall from the occasional grunt and shared words, so we were not alarmed.

I added a long dagger and several smaller ones to my collection, and hung a Tulwar from my belt thinking that I could give it to Rilrae later. Bao did the same, and our gear made us resemble the people that had worn them last… as much as clothing could. I was glad for my dark hair and of being a size near to what Anjuli had. We had to put a wrapping over Bao’s arms, his tattoos were too distinctive to take any risks with.

By the time we were done, we were starting to get impatient. It had been more than an hour and we were still alone.

“You don’t think…” Bao’s thought came clearly to me without his having to say anything. The sailors knew enough to understand how I felt about the blasphemy of rape, but they _were_ sailors and had been at sea for weeks.

We dashed to the dim room where they had been working for so long, and nothing could have prepared us for what we saw.

Both the male and female captive were as naked as the day they were born, and trussed up face to face with strips torn from the clothes we had no use for. Some of Ramachandra’s rope was used as well, suspending them in a way that was as intricate as it was perversely erotic. I was so awed by the intricacy of it all that I forgot to be outraged by the fact that the captives had been joined intimately at the hips, as lovers might. They could not kiss as lovers, he was gagged and Anjuli’s mouth was stuffed with a ball of rag too large for her to spit out. She would have to pull her head back and haul it out with the string it was attached to, but there was too much slack in the string for her to do that.

Ramachandra held up a hand as I felt my face start to flush. “Let not your heart be troubled! They allowed this, as the alternative was leaving them here tied in a way they could not escape, and to die of thirst if they were never found. Not likely they ever would be, if our plans work out.”

“Out… of THAT?” Bao asked in disbelief. “I have never seen anything like it, and when I tell you of some of the places I have been…”

“But unless you have been to the Naga Hills, you would not have seen this!” Bann was proud of his work, and he hastened to explain when he saw my jaw working silently. “They will have to cooperate, and it is an intricate step-by step procedure. You see how his phallus forms the first obstacle? She would be able to slip downwards far enough to to pull the gag from her mouth and use her teeth to undo the next set of knots here and here, but first she must make him go limp. That will take some effort as they can barely move at all, and before they do that he must use his face to roll the string away from he neck lest she strangle, and then….”

Bann repeated the set of instructions he had just finished giving them when we walked in. The captives listened intently while my mind wandered in uncomfortable ways. I looked at Bann as he explained all this, and at Ramachandra too, who was amused and watching the explanation closely. Clearly, this had not come from the world-wise Captain’s mind. I shook my head in wonderment, how had something so sophisticated come from a hill tribe that had barely mastered oil lamps and wagon wheels?  
Ah! such a foolish thought, that one, and I had to laugh at myself and put my hand over my face. I had been living among the highly cultured folk of Terre d’Ange, Ch’in and Bhodistan for far too long. We of the Maghuin Dhonn are about as ‘primitive’ as any tribe you are apt to find, and yet we have knowledge of things that make many of the civilized folk of the world dread us.

My laugh and my gesture were interpreted wrongly, especially by the captives. The man groaned and shut his eyes tight, and Anjuli glared at me, tried to say something through the wad in her mouth, and then started working her hips as provocatively as she could while still meeting my eyes.

“Interesting.” Bao mused as he stood by my side. “He is the more embarrassed of the two of them, by far.”

My laugh died instantly. “You wouldn’t be surprised if you had seen into her. Not as bad as the Spider Queen, but she is headed that way.” Carelessly, I had spoken those words in Bhodistani, and not quietly. Anjuli was shocked enough to stop what she was doing, her eyes going wide again. I sighed, and found myself taking a step closer to her. “Do you not know the Ch’in Emperor’s Jade-eyed witch when you see her? Yes, I saw you, as you are. Stop treating life as a sick joke, that is where everyone in Kurugiri went wrong!”

I turned on my heel to get out of that room. Ramachandra stopped me, holding the last of our water. “Have you had your fill?” He asked that of all of us, and when we were done he set what was left down on the floor. “You will need that when you are done.” He said to the captives, who had already begun to sweat. “It won’t be enough, but all you need is right down that hall, and out the window. It isn’t such a drop if you climb down a little ways, and the moat is deep. You can swim…. ah, I see. Anjuli can’t, so you will need his help even then. I advise you to accept it and leave this place behind. We are about to cause some very serious mischief here, wearing _your_ clothes. I don’t imagine anyone here will be very happy with you, but out there you could start again.” He laughed and swatted Anjuli’s rump as he left them behind. “That is the Garden of Edom out there, after all. You will hardly be the first couple of waifs to find themselves there with nothing!”

His words made me turn and give them one last look, but the door was already being pulled shut behind Ramachandra. Instead of seeing them as they were, I saw a hazy image in the dark slab of wood shutting them off from me. It was the two of them, hair billowing about them all a-frazzle but otherwise unharmed, waving to get the attention of a startled herdsman. Anjuli’s belly was swelling, and her man has something tied to his leg… something he would need…

I removed one of the daggers I had helped myself to, scabbard and tie-strings included, and left it on the floor near the door. The image was less hazy as I left, firmer, more hopeful.

Feeling immeasurably better at replacing hate with hope, I fairly skipped away from that place and found one of Bao’s arms around my shoulders when I caught up with the group. He has seen me leave the knife, and instead of chiding me he asked “You really think they have a chance out there?”

“Of course. The rains have brought the growing season here. They have a very good chance, now.”

 

Later, Bao and Ramchandra were walking shoulder-to-shoulder as they consulted the map. I was behind them with Bann, and when our progress slowed I had to make some conversation with him, or else appear that I didn’t appreciate his company. Unfortunately, I could not think of anything to say. I had to fall back on something I really had no desire to speak of; “That was an impressive bit of work back there. Are you sure it will take them until dark to get free of it?”

“Oh yes, and darkness will slow them still more.” He made a face as something occurred to him.

“What is it?”

“If the man looses his enthusiasm, she may slip too soon.” Bann smiled and shrugged, making a vague gesture with his hand. “No, that is not going to happen. That woman is a true beauty with a well-formed body.”

“I hadn’t noticed.” That was the bare truth, I had been too distracted by her inner ugliness, and who it reminded me of. I was grateful for that vision and what it promised, but I was starting to wonder if it had been a true vision or merely a reflection of my own hopes. Shaking my head, I tried to talk about something else. “Your skill with rope is something to behold. One would suppose that all sailors have some skill at that, but you seem exceptional.”

“Thank you, Lady, but as I said, I learned much in a village that is so far from the sea that the vastness of the ocean is just a rumor. There I learned to truss up just about anything, from a home to a team of Oxen to the sort of people we have left behind. People are by far the most difficult to trap effectively. More so than even the most contrary Wildcat.”

“I’d say that sums up your latest prey very well.” I admitted.

Bao noticed out conversation and was drawn in. “If she is the one that can move her hips, I am surprised that she can’t roll them back far enough to simply let him slip out of her.”

Ramachandra shook his head. “You didn’t see the size of him, he’s a regular-“

“Can we PLEASE stop talking about that!”

“I was ready to stop talking about it some time ago.” Bao winked at me over his shoulder. “I was just wondering what it would take to get YOU to stop talking about it.”  
And so it was that we walked deeper into the lair of the Rakshasa, laughing and light-hearted.


	35. Chapter 35

36

 

 

 

That didn’t last long, of course, our spirits started flagging when we heard the music and the noise of the crowd ahead of us. We were lurking at the rear of a balcony that overlooked three of the buildings ahead of us. The nearest two were unoccupied, and we could see only a sliver of the third. What we saw of that one was why we were content to lurk back in the shadows.

The balconies on that building were hung with bright bunting, and the music was light and cheerful, not at all what I was expecting. There was also the noise of a hundred voices, a daunting sound to the four of us.

Three of us, to be more honest, Ramachandra was too busy with his map and his plotting, and thinking aloud again. “As I thought, not so different from Meherangarh.”

“Is that a place we should know about?” Bao asked.

“You passed not far from it. Ah, it must have been raining that day.” His joke fell so flat that he cleared his throat and hastened to add; “It is a great fort that Jodha built just recently. He needed 10,000 slaves and 500 Elephants to complete it in less than ten years, this looks as if it would have taken a bit more than that. Less, maybe, with all the cheating that they did. Now, what I mean is, the lay-out may be roughly the same. Look there;” The narrowness of our view did not allow for seeing very much of the courtyard, and there was more bunting and flags fluttering to muddy things further. “That is the main courtyard. _beneath_  that will be one, two, maybe three floors of internal structure.”

“Beneath?” I was afraid I didn’t understand him. I caught glimpses of a garden, a watered lawn. Beneath that should have been nothing but water=soaked soil, to my mind.

“Yes, the major part of the rooms inside these walls cannot be seen from above.”

“Unless there were already a thousand people waiting here, that means that there won’t be very many people down there.”

“Correct, Bao. very good. I would guess that there would be less than a hundred people left here year-round.”

I shot him a glance. “What is your guess based on?”

“Experience.” Ramachandra answered calmly. “And the likelihood that Shahrukh values his silver as much as the next man…. or, Rakshasa bent on concquest. More than that number would be a waste if their only tasks were to maintain and guard this place.”

“So, two or three hundred in all.” Bao groused. Then he looked at the buildings nearest us again. “This place could hold ten times that number.”

“With ease.” Ramachandra assured him. “But only if they all knew how to get along with each other.”

Bao nodded, a wicked grin coming over his face. “I think I know exactly what we need to do.”

 

“But…. _murder_?” I sighed, after listening to Ramachandra help Bao flesh out his plan. “I can’t -“

“No indeed you cannot.” Ramachandra snapped at me. “You may have her livery on, but you don’t look anything like Anjuli. Bao here can be spotted as Ch’in from 50 paces away thought a dirty window.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

“Leave that to Bann and I. The best you can do for us is cover us with our bow while Bao covers you with his staff.”

Bao was thinking faster than I; “Yes yes, but from where? If we are down in the catacombs-“

Once again, Ramachandra was too impatient to hear one of us out. “Only to get where we need to be. And where we need to be is amidst them. Once that is accomplished, you will go to the last place anyone would expect you to go in the event of this sort of trouble; amidst Shahrukh’s retainers.”

There was audacity, and then there was madness. It shocked me to see Bao nodding. “If it works out exactly right, we would be seen as trying to protect them.”

“Just so!” The Captain pulled something from his sleeve. “This artifact may come in handy.” What he produced was a treasure that belonged on a Queen, or in her strongest vault. It was a necklace made of some sort of blueish metal and set with gemstones the size of my fingernails. Two rubies, two diamonds, and one blue stone that I could not identify. “Just the sort of thing to start a feud over.”

“We can’t just hand that to them!” I protested. “If they see our faces, it is all over for us.”

“They? Who? Only Shahrukh and his two pet dancing girls saw you closely, three people among a hundred. Those are exactly the people whom the throng of visitors would have most trouble reaching, don’t you think?”

Ramachandra’s logic was hard to argue with at the moment, although I I knew I would think of an objection later on.

 

Down we went, trusting more to our Captain’s dead-reckoning than to the map as we went farther and father into the bowels of Shahrukh’s creation.

Caves, natural ones, have always been a friendly place for me. Never did I feel uncomfortable in one, no matter how deep or vast they were. This fortress was different. Knowing how this place had been formed by Shahrukh’s unnatural magic preyed on my mind. The inconceivable weight of tons of sandy soil over my head oppressed me. How well had he wrought these walls, the ceiling over my head? How solid was any of this… and could he undo it with a thought or a gesture?

One of the greatest mercies we can do for each other is to keep our doubts and fears to ourselves. The men were all doing fine, sparing not a glance at the masonry over their heads, while it fairly crackled with warnings to my senses. I did not enjoy holding my panicked thoughts inside my head, and Bao’s lack of concern irritated me further. Did he not sense how I felt, at least?

We entered a vast chamber filled with stout columns and floored with hay. I assumed that we had entered a vast stable, and a moment later I was proven right. Three horses were the only animals in that echo-haunted space. There was also a pair of young men there, one tending to the horses and one guard. Ramachandra gave me a questioning glance, and I made my best guess at an answer;

“The stable boy is not one of Shahrukh’s men, but the Guard is.” It was not a difficult guess, the Guard was wearing something similar to what some of the men on his hip had, and the stableboy was not. Nor was he wearing colors similar to our own.

Ramachandra nodded and whispered back. “Come close enough to be seen by the Guard, but not clearly.” He and Bann sauntered through the occupied stable area, brushing up against the horses. Annoyed at the close approach of strangers, the horses protested, attracting the attention of both of our enemies. At the same moment, the Guard challenged them in a sharp, formal way, and the stableboy cursed and moved towards the horses. This also brought the surly lad closer to Ramachandra. Our Captain feigned outrage; “ _What_ did you say to me?” he snarled, and bashed him to the ground before the young man could answer him. For good measure, Bann dealt him a kick to make certain the stableboy had been rendered unconscious.

I nearly cried out myself, and stepped out from behind a column. So did Bao, and the Guard was no less shocked.

Ramachandra was still affecting a casual yet menacing air as he spoke to that Guard; “Would you mind terribly if I asked you to go find a rat-hole in one of these walls, and fill it with your manhood?”

The Guard swallowed hard, glancing at the four of us quickly, and probably wondering how many more of us there might be lurking in the shadows. He turned on one heel and swiftly departed through a doorway behind him.

Bao just as swiftly advanced on Ramachandra, as if he was ready to grab our Captain by the scruff of his neck and give him a good shake. “What in all the bloody hells do you think you are doing?!”

“I’d say that could not have been better.” Ramachandra’s grin was genuine, and no less infuriating for being so until he explained. “This is where we separate. Bann and I will go pick more fights, but we will make it look as if it was the other guy’s fault. You two will infiltrate Shahrukh’s household and hopefully acquire new clothes. Stay on the periphery or used your tricks to get to Rilrae. The chaos we cause will make a stealthy approach easier for you.”

This made sense, in a mad sort of way, yet I was also upset; “Why did you let that guard get away? He will spread the word-“

“Yes, and now people will be looking for that little band that we disposed of… down here, instead of where we left them. We have no time to speak further, good luck to you!” He tossed the clay tablet to me. “Shahrukh’s wing of this place is here I put that ‘X’.” He shrugged as he left us. “We treasure hunters always mark our maps that way. Of with you now, they will be here any moment.”

 

I dearly wanted to kick him the way Bann had kicked the poor boy, but there was no time to even make certain that the stableboy was still alive. Ramachandra had taken the same doorway out that the Guard had, trusting that there would be more intersections and galleries for them to hide themselves away inside before the Guard returned with reinforcements. Bao took one look at the tablet in my hand and put his arm around me to help propel me down the columned chamber.

“Where are we going?”

“The opposite end of this sand-pile. It makes sense.” He answered me, voice low and eyes peering all around us. “The place with the best view and the best defenses, remember how it looked from outside?”

I did, but that was not what I wanted to talk about. I was silent while we groped our way from one dim corridor to the next. Arrow slits and other openings lit our way intermittently, so the darkness was never total. Without Bao’s arm around me, I don’t think that I could have kept going. Man-made buildings were one thing, yet this was not made by any man, and deep in its bowels the unnatural aspect of the place was hardest to bear. Up above, with open sky all around us and a cliffside towering to one side, I could pretend otherwise, but not down here.

Bao did not understand my distress, he could only feel it. I could not hold back a soft, strangled cry of frustration as he paused at the bottom of a stairway that promised to lead us up and out of these dank depths. “What is it, beloved?” he asked. “Are you afraid that Ramachandra is going to betray us?”

That was a thought so dangerous that it blew the original source of discomfort right out of my mind. It also seemed possible. Ramachandra had just separated us and initiated a plan without warning us about it. He was the Captain, used to being in command and swift action, and being obeyed. A man of action, to be sure… and here was an action that could indeed lead to our betrayal. All he would have to do was go straight to Shahrukh and inform him of our presence. “Do you think he might?”

“No.” Bao shook his head resolutely. “He could be forgiven sinking that ship and breaking into this place, those were crimes committed against Shahrukh. What that old monster cannot forgive him for is killing people belonging to an ally that he is courting. It just isn’t in his power, and even if Shahrukh pretended to do so, it would only be a matter of time before someone cut Ramachandra’s throat.”

“Oh, right!” Bao had been working it out in his mind since the stables, while I had been distracted with my own misery. It was time to shake that off.

The light from an arrow-slit reminded me that we must be near our goal. The Rakshasa’s suspected lair was a block of apartments that rose several floors above the walls, girt all around by balconies with lacy railings and topped with a strange half-dome. If our guesses were right, it was directly overhead.

Bao and I exchanged nods and tight grins, taking a grip on our weapons rather than each other as we ascended the stairs.


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After all the short chapters, I decided to bulk-up on the content and give you a nasty little cliff hanger at the end.

37

 

 

Up and up we went, twice as far up as we had traveled downwards under Ramachandra’s guidance. We had no choice but to continue with his plan, and looking back I can allow that it was a good one. At the time, I was more infuriated with him than Bao could bear. “Concentrate! You are distracting me, foolish wife. Think of what we are here to do.” He paused and gave me a sideways grin. “And if you can figure out _why_  we are doing this, please share such wisdom with me.”

“What a silly thing to ask.” I said automatically; “Love”.

“Love, for …?”

“For a better world.”

 

The staircase we were using was narrow and steep, a servant’s access way that could exist for years without feeling the tread of noble feet. Here was the drawback of Shahrukh’s vast creation; he had not the staff to guard it effectively. We had climbed half a dozen floors, and in all likelihood we could have climbed to the roof without meeting anyone. Rilrae was unlikely to be up that high, and we would have little time to climb back down again. Guided by naught but our instincts and a subtle nudge from our diadh-anam, we left the stairway and stole down a short hallway. Bao’s sense of direction was perfect, we found ourselves in an empty sunlit room overlooking the courtyard.

In all but one way, the scene below us was much as our earlier glimpse had hinted at. Over a hundred people were down below and in the lower balconies, gathering in a semi-formal way for their pre-wedding festivities. We did not dare go out onto the balcony for a better look, and so we pressed up against the latticework covering one of the smaller windows. In spite of our circumstances, I noted that the work done here was incredible. More delicate and elaborate than even the Temple at Indraprathna, this was some sort of embroidery done with stone. I touched it, and saw that it had been done with someone particular in mind… Kalpana, then the favorite of Shahrukh. My mind made another connection, part vision and part gut-level instinct. I spun about, Bao moving as one with me, to confront Kalpana herself standing by the doorway we had just passed through.

In her hands was a blow-pipe, loaded with a poison dart.

 

We were saved from something ugly by turning towards her. Kalpana was saved from _us_  by lowering the weapon, and the delighted expression that lit up her face. The widening eyes, the shocked smile, the breathless words “It is _you_?!” were all the reactions I was hoping for from Rilrae herself. Coming from Kalpana, and with such sudden sincerity, it was only confusing. "Thank the Gods you are here! For her, yes? For me too, please?"

Bao took three swift steps towards her and snatched the blowpipe out of her hands. Kalpana did not resist him. “Interesting, no doubt you have some explanation about your change of heart.”

“Aye, and it had better be a good one. One that makes us forget that you could only have killed one of us with that ridiculous thing before the other killed _you_!”

“Killed?” She shook her head, and decided to save something for later. “He plans to-“

“Force-marry Rilraie so that he can manipulate Nova Angelica and begin Bhodistan’s eastward expansion. Yes, we know.”

Vondonna gaped at me, and then muttered “…witch indeed…”

Bao laid his staff across her shoulders, slowly but firmly. “You had best not forget that, and tell us truthfully and fully why you are so glad to see us.”

“Dipti attacked Rilrae, and Shahrukh killed her.” Kalpana was a woman of few words.

She did not need to do much explaining for us to see the truth. This formerly willing bedmate to a Rakshasa had seen how little value her life had in the greater schemes of things. Greater schemes were indeed afoot on this day. at Bao’s suggestion, she returned to the screen with us and identified the most important guests.

“Be true to use and we can get you out of here.” That was all we needed to promise to put her firmly on our side.

“From what you are wearing, I can assume you have already met the Lady of Patna’s people.” Kalpana pointed out a palanquin that was well-shaded despite the lack of direct sunshine. Seated there was a woman of middling years and delicate features, her most outstanding trait was her albinism. She was so white it would have been easy to take her for an alabaster statue. Her hair was the same, and ringlets were carefully arranged to cover the upper half of her face. “She is stone-blind,” Kalpana explained, “and more than a match for anyone that I have ever heard of when it comes to manipulation and treachery. It is just bad luck that she is here among us, she was in the area securing a supplier of Myrrh. The Lady of Patna controls her city-state by creating problems, and then conjuring up her solutions while blandly denying she had anything to do with the problem in the first place. She creates needs that people never knew they had before, and then finds a way to fill them.” The albino woman was surrounded by a dozen close associates and twice as many guards. There were four or five conversations going on around here at the same time, conversations that the Lady appeared aloof from until she pointed to a particular group or pairing with a baton with a red tassel. Conversation there would cease, she would inject her comment, and then all would resume as it was. Bao was reminded of a legendary wanderer, blind, who could play half a dozen games of Chess at the same time… and win them all.

“Bad luck, you said of her being here. Why?” I asked.

“Shahrukh himself counts her as his equal when it comes to trickery. If we are to have any hope of getting out of here, you must avoid that one.” Kalpana gave our clothes a meaningful glance.

Next she pointed to a man with just two escorts. “Taman, Shahrukh appointed him ruler of Socotra … caretaker of his retreat.” The man looked as faded and shabby as his ‘palace’ down below. It would have been easy to feel sorry for this downcast man, he had been dragged up here among the others to remind him of the grandeur of his superiors. However, this was the man who’s station had been gained through murder and treachery, and he himself was a surly and unlovely man.

I gasped under my breath when a third member of his group joined Taman; it was the very stable-boy that Ramachandra had abused, and with a broad bandage wrapped around his head. That poor boy went to his knees before the Lord of this island to make his report. Taman heard him out and then sent him away with a snarl and a kick… and that was all. Nothing further was done, and I believe that if I could have come closer I would have seen dilated eyes or other evidence of whatever drugs that man was propping himself up with.

“That one is called Nan, I know of nothing else to call him.” A man dressed all in black, from turban to polished boots, moved restlessly among the crowd. crossed over his back were a pair of Talwar, at his hips were several circular throwing blades call Chakra. Nan’s throat, groin and knees were covered by very light chain mail, also black. He was trailed by four more men dressed as he was, and similarly armed. “We are not allowed to ask questions about him, but when the Master needs more men, or some ships, Nan can make them appear as if by magic. I also suspect… I _think_ he was brought on board to kill the two of you.” Kalpana looked straight at Bao, and then me as she said that, and my jaw clenched tighter as I watched him move. Nan had a long beard that he kept folded under his chin with gold clips; even at a full-dress occasion such as this, he kept himself ready for instant action. This man was not the sort to ‘let his hair down’, as they say.

“And that is the Sheik of Ubar.” A greater contrast to Nan would have been difficult to imagine. This Ummatatti was so grossly fat that he had a commode built into the underside of a liter that he rarely stirred himself from. His entourage was larger than the Lady of Patna had, and more relaxed towards their surroundings. OUTWARDLY relaxed, I should say. In this grouping, all were dressed in white, and even the serving girls were armed. There were also a brace of Cheetah chained to his liter, the only ones I have ever seen. This Sheik traded in everything, and could do so in such quantity and such secrecy that Shahrukh had set up his base next to this man’s territory.

Thus was the nature of Shahrukh’s allies.

“We are fortunate that there are not more of them.” Kalpana continued. “And unfortunate that there are this many. The master must have ways to alert them over great distances. Now,” she turned to us, eyes expectant. “What is your plan?”

There was no need to look more deeply into her, Kalpana was determined to get away from her ‘master’ and had thrown in with us. No matter if it was the death of Dipti or her loathing for her station in life, she wanted out of this place, badly.

“We have some rogues of our own, making trouble where you can’t see them.” Bao explained. “Ah, there, see that?” A servant or a guard, it was hard to tell them apart with the Sheik of Ubar’s hoard, came and said something to a man standing close to the Sheik. There was some mild consternation, and then the one called Nan strolled over to investigate. The Sheik’s men attempted to ignore him, and sent a trio off on some errand. Nan was intrigued enough to send a pair of his own men after them, and then engaged in mock cordiality with the Sheik’s entourage. Even from a distance, it was not a very sincere display.

“What, that’s _it_?” Kalpana shook her head. “Too slow, not enough, it is about to begin!”

“What do you mean?”

The question was answered by Shahrukh himself.

There came the ringing of gongs, a silence fell over the crowd three stories beneath us, and the Rakshasa stepped out onto a balcony just below the floor we were standing on. His voice rang out, resonant and reassuring, and he began a speech to the assembled scores of people in his courtyard.

A _speech_ , as if he were some great leader already. Perhaps in his mind, he already was, imagining the pathetic horde of criminals and scheming petty-tyrants before him to be the future Lords of the East, and he their Overlord. I quickly prayed for the Gods to help the people of Bhodistan if that dark dream could ever be made true.

His voice changed while he spoke, becoming deeper, and slightly slurred. I might not have paid it any heed, but a change came over the crowd. The leaders grew more attentive, and very still. Their entourages gasped and then became very silent, eyes wide and shoulders hunched as if afraid to draw his attention to them. They had been warned of something by their leaders, something they did not quiet believe until now…

“No!” Kalpana whispered fretfully, and tugged us back away from the latticework. “He has assumed the aspect of the Raj, that is all. It means little in reality, but if you see him so, you may give yourselves away!”

“You think so?” Bao gave her a look that let her know she was becoming irritating. “Why is he even giving this speech? When will the wedding begin?”

Kalpana returned his look and added hot amazement to it. She tugged harder at him; “His speech IS the beginning of the ceremony! As soon as he finishes speaking, SHE will come- _eep_!” She went from tugging us to being half-carried by us back to the stairs.

“Down?” I asked sharply.

“Yes, two floors.”

Sunset was the normal time for such things, and we had miscalculated badly. Thanks to the steep mountain flanking this place, the sun had already set on this side of the valley!  
Kalpana’s faith in us, such as it was, must have been badly shaken by this. We were down past the floor Shahrukh was speaking from and about to enter the one below that when she began to protest, as if she though we would simply burst into the Zenana as we were. “You can’t just-“

I breathed deeply, and let out the twilight.

“-oh!”

Bao was no happy about this, but he understood the need to keep Kalpana free of her doubts about being on our side. An instant later, we all had reason to be glad that I had used what might be my last draught of concealing shadows. We burst silently into the midst of a score of servants and Guards, all highly attentive and ready to begin the next phase of the ceremony. Kalpana was not stupid, she understood what was happening when we passed between two rows of guards without being paid the slightest attention. “Rilrae never mentioned this! To your right, a little further, behind the curtains … _she_ has changed too.”

Changed, yes, in ways we could not have anticipated. I had been so worried about how emotionally troubled she would be, but I had not given any thought to the idea that she might have been physically altered by her experiences.

We found her behind a double set of curtains that we had to detour around lest we disturb them. The only items of clothing she wore were a set of golden sandals and a diaphanous white cloak…. but she can hardly have been said to be naked, nor anything close to it. Shahrukh had taken advantage of her physical strength to adorn her in a weight of gold that would have cost anyone else their ability to move gracefully. Rings on every finger, arms adorned with bracelets and a set of necklaces so extensive that covered her breasts all the way down to her nipples. Elastic gold filagree surrounded her waist and knees, from which dangled chain mesh that somewhat covered her hips and her calves. Even her ankles were surrounded by plates of gold set with precious gems and lapis lazuli. No wonder Shahrukh was making his speech now, once everyone caught sight of Rilrae they would have eyes only for her.  
And so did we, for more reason than these adornments.

I noticed the jewelry last, it was the horns that startled me so badly that I nearly lost my grip on Kalpana. Horns, like those of her parents, but only when they were in Dragon form. They sprouted from the upper corners of her forehead and swept the length of a hand and a half, back just above the curve of her skull. Jet-black at the base, they faded to a near-golden color at the tips.

“You see? You must get her away from him!” Kalpana whispered, pleading, but I could not reply. Something moved just behind Rilrae, and I thought for just a heartbeat that a snake was attacking her. No, not a snake, it was her _TAIL_. Black like the rest of her, long enough to reach the floor and twitching with impatience. I did lose my grip on Kalpana at seeing this, and so did Bao. She broke away from us instantly, and went straight to Rilrae.

Another thing that had not occurred to me was the possibility that a bond of genuine affection could have developed there.

Rilrae had been wearing a haughty, disillusioned look on her face that dissolved when Kalpana suddenly appeared at her side. Her mind had been miles away, I don’t think she would have noticed us if we had walked right up to her without any concealment. She blinked as Kalpana hugged her and returned that hug with impatient affection. “ _Gods_ babe, where have you _been_? ”

“Your friends are here, that foreign couple!” Kalpana had left the Twilight behind, I had just enough left to keep myself and Bao covered.

Rilrae’s answer, also in a strained whisper, made my heart drop into my stomach like a brick. “ _What?_  No! Tell them to stay away, don’t let them mess this up for me!”


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is unavoidably shorter. The madness that was May has bled over into June and my time won't really be my own until next week.  
> But then, Summer, and enough quality time to get this done at last!

38

 

 

 

Bao later admitted that this moment was the closest he ever came to reconsidering the idea of having children of our own. For my part, it was all I could do to keep my grip on the Twilight. I think that the only thing that allowed me to do so was a profound desire to be somewhere else… _anywhere_  else.

We were both speechless, unable to make a sound for that critical moment.

“But, they are right-“ Kalpana looked back, and was shocked to find that she could not see us.

Rilrae followed her glance, and she understood perfectly. She flashed us a smile, a rather beautiful one that I could not understand at all. “Excellent. Take them to the pavilion, the one we looked at earlier with the pastries. I’ll meet you there.”

“I … your escort… I have to -” Kalpana stammered.

Rilrae cupped the girl’s chin in her hand and kissed with a passion that further astonished me. She drew a deep inward breath while their lips were still together, and I could see how Rilrae’s fingernails had thickened and grown longer. I think that Kalpana was ready to swoon when Rilrae broke off and gave her a gentle push back towards us. “Go now, and don’t worry. Shah won’t punish you, not after this. Go! They are still there, but I don’t think Moirin will be able to stay hidden long in this place.”

The distinctive chime of a bell made of silver snapped Rilrae’s attention back to the ceremony taking place ahead of her. Before any of us could stop her, she parted the curtains and stepped into the chamber were all those servants and Guards were waiting for her. All I could do was reach out to Kalpana and take her back into the Twilight, before she could be spotted through the gap in the curtains.

And that was it. Somehow, we had lost her.

A stiff breeze could have knocked us over, and so it was easy for Kalpana to take us by the arms and lead us where she wanted us to go. The Twilight dissolved as we left the chamber, but it did not matter anymore. Down another shadowy staircase, another deserted hall, and back up again up a half-flight of stairs that put us in the courtyard. Here, we did pull back against Kalpana’s grip and steered her into the gap between two thin hedges.

“Where are you taking us!” Bao demanded.

“Aren’t we wearing exactly the wrong thingsI” I snapped.

“There!” Kalpana parted the hedge just enough for us to see a tent with no walls, filled with tables piled high with delicacies. In addition to Shahrukh’s servants, there were a couple of representatives from each of his allies standing by, ready to take platters to their own masters when the signal was given. The Lady of Patna’s people had contrived to be at the head of the line. If they did not look back, it would be a good place for us to stand… for a little while. “What is your plan for escape?”

We could not dissemble at this point. “By rope, at the far end of this place.” My words sounded weak to my own ears.

Kalpana shook her head. "I hope you are as quick and formidable as Rilrae said.” Kalpana’s opinion of us was clearly dropping even lower, and this irked us both enough to recover our wits. “The staircase in the _near_  corner takes you down to the water-“ Another bell rang, larger than the one that summoned the bride to be, and Kalpana jumped. “If you want to see this, come now!”

I did not want to see this, I wanted to run, leave all this behind. I wanted to leave this stranger Rilrae had become. My _diahd-anam_  chose that moment to give me the clearest sign it had yet; it _rebelled_ against the notion of leaving … or of doing anything besides following Kalpana to the pavilion filled with the silly little plates. Bao felt that too, giving me an exasperated look and muttering about the games of the Gods.

I tried to smile, and said something idiotic. “At least there may be some Tapioca in it for us.”

We did not want to look, yet there was no way to avoid it. Everyone was looking at them, and what a marvelous opportunity for Ramachandra to inflict his mayhem if he could have avoided looking as well. The broad white marble staircase was a good design, the stairs coming down from the balcony on the second floor arced around to either side, joining the stairs coming from the lower floor at either side to meld with them seamlessly. Flower petals drifted down from high above and music that was equally delicate came from behind the latices.  Rilrae stood in the middle of the intersection with a dreamy smile on her face. She was indeed riveting, yet our eyes were drawn to the thing majestically walking down the upper stairs to meet her. It was not the Shahrukh we knew, not even as we had glimpsed him on the barge, and yet it _was_ him. His demeanor could be recognized despite the fact that his whole head had morphed into that of a Tiger and his hands were now fur-covered claws. Not an imitation of a man-shaped Tiger, but the beast itself modified only as much as it had to be in order to walk upright and speak.

This was his idea of the Raj?

Formidable, yes, and a presence not to be overlooked. I did not understand how this new appearance was supposed to support the speech he had made, or make him more acceptable to the people before him. A cultured beast, an elegant monster… as their great leader? Their other-worldly Overlord, more like, and his exotic bride awaited him with a willing acceptance that may have given Shahrukh reason to pause. It should have, and yet he went to her as if he already owned her.

Then, in an odd moment of clarity, I understood, without the benefit of one of my visions.

However it had occurred, Rilrae's transformation had overshadowed Shahrukh’s presence. He had assumed the visage of a Tiger so that… in HIS mind … he would be the more remarkable of the two of them once again. It was so grotesque, not only seeing them like that, but to see how comprehensively we had failed this young woman. Rilrae could not wait to be in his arms. Young, yes, perhaps she had been seduced somehow, or simply making the best of a bad situation in her mind… but this Rakshasa, his behavior was a monument to everything that could be wrong with a man.

 _Gods_ , he truly _was_  that shallow! All that power, all those years, and that was really all there was too him?!

I nearly laughed out loud. I managed to avoid that disaster because Shahrukh went straight to his bride, put his arms around her shoulders and kissed her fully on the mouth, ceremony be damned.

It was not his last mistake of the day, but nearly so.

Rilrae returned the kiss, fiercely, even putting one hand on the back of his head. The mob of criminals with pretentious of glory began to make appreciative sounds ranging from surprised approval to the rude and the lewd. I made a sound as well, one that was both surprised, and triumphant.

Kalpana had chosen our position well. From where I stood, I could see Rilrae’s throat swell as it had back at the Temple, I saw her hand clench and keep Shahrukh in her grip as she vomited something straight down his throat.

_“… mine is GLUE…”_

For a moment, Bao and I, Kalpana and Rilrae were the only ones who understood what had happened to Shahrukh. He himself did not understand it at first, his Feline face going from surprise to disgust and then to panic as he started to struggle to push her away.

As soon as they sensed that something was wrong, the audience started to back away. Two supernatural beings in such intimate contact was not something normal people wanted to intervene in… for the most part.

Bao and I took a step forward, he slipping his staff from its sling and I flipping Mabon’s bow of my shoulder. “Can it be… a thing like that … he actually needs air to live?”

“I’m just glad he cannot talk!” After untold centuries of living on this world, he might only _believe_ he needed to breath, but that would be enough. So much of life depends on the mind, and his was far from the finest I have encountered.

Before we could take two steps, Kalpana slapped at our chests and left us behind. “Do not step out, I will bring her to you!”

Of course, we were still wearing the wrong things.

Shahrukh had succeeded in casting Rilrae away from him, tumbling her over the railing onto the lawn near us. She landed on her hands and feet like a cat, and her tail lashed the air like a cat’s as well. Kalpana had her blowgun out and fired a tiny dart into Shahrukh as soon as Rilrae was down on the ground. The Rakshasa barely noticed, and I later found that it was only a drug similar to opium, meant to rob him of his dexterity and judgement. Shahrukh only cast Kalpana one baleful glance as he struggled to expel what was lodged in his throat. It was impossible, of course. The Dragon’s glue had hardened so quickly that all he could do was blow a grotesque bubble that distanced his jaw and hardened into a glassy clear mass just behind his long white teeth.

Like the tiles of a roof giving way in a storm, giving way just a little at first before they all flew apart, the gathering gave way to panic and then pandemonium. When Kalpana reached Rilrae, Bao and I were ready to kill everyone in the tent to make sure that they did not interfere with us. We never had to, they were already sprinting away to join their factions. I caught a glimpse of the Lady of Patna trying to listen to half a dozen of her advisors at once, and the one called Nan eyeing the Sheik of Ubar with a malicious grin, and that Sheik quivering like one of the deserts arrayed before us. Shahrukh saw this as well, even Taman was backing away, weapons drawn, but he was looking the wrong way. In the shadows behind him, Ramachandra was waiting for him to come just a little closer. Weapons were drawn in every corner, and already there were shouts of anger and sharp cries of sudden pain.

_NOOooo!_

We all felt that, a mental roar meant to be a command, but too muddled to come through as aught but a wail of denial. Face contorted and body heaving, he was a terrible sight. Worst of all were his eyes, seeing his grand design going to pieces right in front of him pained him more than his wracked body. He still had control over that body, and he meant to save it. I saw the claws on two of his ‘fingers’ extend. Quickly, oh so quickly, he brought them up and plunged them into the base of his own throat.

He meant to open his airway, below all the glue that he could not remove from his throat. It was not a bad idea, a skilled chirurgeon could have done it easily with the right tools. And then, I think he would have killed each and every one of us, to erase the shame and humiliation we had witnessed.

Shahrukh, however, was no chirurgeon. He was not even very familiar with the body he had imitated. And in addition to that, the drug that Kalpana had fired into him had already begun to take effect.

The Rakshasa stared in helpless horror as a gout of red-black blood fountained out of his own neck.

For weeks I had been wondering what it would truly take to kill a fallen spirit of the Rahshasa variety. As it turned out, the claws of another Rakshasa were quiet sufficient, or even his own.


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \---Editing ---

39

 

 

Shahrukh fell, thrashing in his death-agony, and we had nothing to do with it. We had attracted no attention to ourselves. It whould have been the easiest thing in the world for us to leave that place unscathed. There was one complication; Kalpana and Rilrae were up on their feet and coming towards us.

… and half the men nearby were heading towards _them_.

There was no need to discus this or even glance at one another. Bao advanced with staff in both hands, and I stepped back to raise my bow.

I saw so many strange things in just a dozen heartbeats, it is still difficult for me to describe them. One of the men struck by my arrows immediately turned on the man next to him, who had no weapons at all. Another less than lethal blow was among the many struck by Bao, spinning a charging guard completely around and, feet still pumping, charged up the stairs and into a senseless fight with Shahrukh’s guards. Another of Shahrukh’s former servants was aimlessly wandering around dipping his fingers into a pot and then licking them. I thought he had lost his mind, but he stopped walking when he nearly stepped into my line of fire. Once I had let loose my arrow, he continued on his way with a very slight nod in my direction.

These and other weird events distract me from the memory of the carnage that Bao and I inflicted on that chaotic mass for a few dozen heartbeats. It was absolute madness, every faction turned on each other the moment that Shahrukh had fallen, and his own people were caught flat-footed. Rilrae and Kalpana had known this would happen, but how they thought they could have escaped that place without our help is still puzzling to me. They scurried to us, crouched low to keep their heads under swinging staff and arrows in flight. Kalpana reached for Bao and I yelled at her not to distract him, Rilrae was already pulling her away from him and hauled her right through the hedge I had been trying to use for cover. That ended it’s usefulness to me, and I yelled again for Bao to join us. The last arrow I fired was one with a whistle in the tip. This was a gamble, but I had to give Ramchandra some clue about where we were and where we were heading. I sent the arrow up, over the building we were the head, arced so that it came down outside the corner of the palace we were heading for.

That was all we could do for him.

  
Rilrae had already gone past me and down the stairs we had just taken with Kalpana. “WAIT!” Bao and I both shouted at her, needlessly. There were men inside, hostile ones that had weapons drawn and awaiting trouble. They were more than ready to give Rilrae some trouble as soon as they saw her… or so they thought. She stopped at the doorway, and spat at them. Then she closed the door in their faces. Kalpana backed away from Rilrae as she raised a leg, counted off two heartbeats, and kicked the door as hard as she could. The door broke into 3 pieces and snapped away from it’s hinges. One of those pieces scythed two of the men down, the rest were struck down by an agonizing spray of splinters.

What came next was only slightly less amazing. Rilrae passed Kalpana through the doorway with a shove that must have been gentle by her lights, and she waited for us, intending to shepherd Bao and I as if _she_  was the one that needed to protect _us_  from anyone that might be in pursuit.

Bao had caught up with me as I reached the stairs. We exchanged a glance that was more of a blink, and we caught Rilrae by grabbing her by her upper arms and carried her along with us. Kalpana had rolled to her feet and lead us to the staircase that was supposed to carry us down to the sally port.

And so it did. Kalpana lead the way with frequent glances back at us. Rilrae was speaking and giggling at the same time, her hands touching what she could of us in the limited range allowed by our grip on her. “I nearly lost my nerve! You are really here, how did you find us? How did you get here so quickly? Did you fly? Are _they_  here?”  
She was in remarkable spirits for someone who had just killed a … a man? Something, someone I no longer wished to think about. Rilrae had reason to be proud, seen in a certain light. She had managed to keep one secret from him, and that was enough. There would be time to ponder such things later. I certainly would, I would never forget what I had seen in that moment.

… or so I believed at the time.

 

Down and down we went, until I thought that we must have gone below the level of the moat. I was wrong, Kalpana kicked a door open that had a threshold just above the level of the water. The thunder of falling water filled out ears as soon as the door opened, and the water vanished from sight just a few paces away. There was nothing beyond it but an abrupt view of the rocky valley far below and the sound of the waterfall. Ahead of us was the straight line of stone that held the valley floor in place, just level with the grassy fields that were between us and the men waiting for us. Ramachandra’s men, what would they think if we showed up without him? I was thinking about that, and something else at the same time; “That moat is too wide to jump, what do you want to do here?”

Kalpana ignored the question and stepped out onto the water. We let go of Rilrae to reach for her, but Kalpana turned and gestured impatiently for us to follow her. Yes, she was standing _on_  the water.

Standing on the dam, in truth. The water was rushing by at a speed that would have swept her away, had it been any more than ankle deep. Kalpana was barefoot, I think she spent most of her life that way. Bao and I prudently shed our own footwear and stuffed them into our belts, while Rilrae was, naturally, anything but prudent as she stepped right out onto the dam in her richly decorated sandals. Up until that point they were worth a small fortune, by my best guess.

They also put her life at risk, as I discovered as soon as I stepped into the same place that she had. The rush of water around by bare feet and ankles was an exhilarating reminder of the danger just a few paces away, the yawning gulf that the water spilled out into immediately after parting around me. The weight of the rest of my body kept my feet planted firmly under me, the narrow focus of weight creating enough friction to save me from a terrible fall. However, the stone was more of that rough yet glassy texture common to the rest of what Shahrukh had built, and it was coated with a light slime of algae. Rilrae had no idea of the danger she had put herself in, and before I could shout to her she slipped and fell face-first into the shallow water. She lay there spluttering for just a heartbeat, and that was enough. The force of a few inches of water hitting her broadside was enough to push her over the edge.

“NO!” No, not after all she had been through, not so close to the end of this nightmare. Not with all the centuries of life ahead of her… not now that she had grown into the sort of person that might deserve such a life.

I threw my bow at the far bank and dove after her. Not over the edge, Rilrae had been trying to dig her fingernails into the rock, slowing her upper body even as her legs and hips were swung around and out over the edge. I did not go broadside to the water as I crouched down and used my hand to press her hands more firmly into the dam’s treacherous surface. Rilrae said nothing, a minor blessing as Bao and then Kalpana both started shouting. She looked at me, at what my hands were trying to do, and then back up at me. Our eyes met, and I could see that she did not want me to be doing this. Rilrae was trying to warn me away when her hands suddenly slipped and she went over the edge.

 

My hands refused to let go.  
It was not by any intention I can name, my resolve had been shaken by Rilrae’s expression, her sorrow that my attempt to save her life might claim mine as well. Try as I might, I cannot say what it was that made me hang on to her as I was slammed face-down onto the wet dam and dragged over the edge.

 _Halfway_ over, I was hanging over the edge with just my legs still on the dam, the rest of me dangling out over the edge head-down when Bao caught hold of my legs and arrested my slide somehow. I knew what Rilrae’s regret felt like then, I knew Bao would aid me somehow, and now I knew he would not let go even if that meant he was not going over the edge with me!

Rilrae was dreadfully heavy, all that damnable Gold would pull her out of my grasp long before I would slip from Bao. And Bao… how was he able to hang on to me as firmly as he was? I had not slipped a hairsbreadth since his hands had clamped down around my ankles. He was still shouting, I could not make out the words because of the water rising over my head, and the full roar of the waterfall directly under my head.

As for Rilrae, she was in a terrible way. I could not see much of her face, the water was falling straight into her. Could she even breath? Would she drown before …. NO!  
“Rilrae, climb! Come up here, climb over me, do _not_  give up on your life!”

For a horribly long moment, it seemed as if she could not hear me, or if she did, then Rilrae did not agree. Only then did I realize that Shahrukh may have done things to her that made Rilrae question the value of her continued existance.


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the last one was just 3 days ago, but now that the climax of the action has come, it is time to get to a climax of a different sort... one for the whole trilogy. That will take us to the City of Elua, mostly

40

 

 

I was losing her.

Would it be this way with my own children… did I even want to find out?

Just as my grip was failing, Rilrae’s terrible weight became much lighter. Her fingers wrapped themselves around my wrists, and a strange pounding came from farther below. She was using the talons growing from her toes to get a grip on the face of the dam, by driving them into the stone itself!

Up she came, spluttering against the water, inching her way back up to me. And suddenly, she wasn’t inching anymore; Bao gave a mighty heave and _yanked_  use both up over the edge. Arms still linked, we found ourselves laying flat and facing each other, with our feet dangling over the opposite edges of the spillway.

I had a question that had to be asked immediately, or the moment would never come again. “You didn’t give up?”

She was too tired to shrug. “I did, but then I felt _your_ despair and…” she blinked, and then smiled. “I felt it! I can SEE again!” Rilrae was about to say more, but she looked past me, into the moat. “I didn’t know Bao could swim.”

His hands had left my ankles and there had been a splash behind me that I had barely noticed a moment ago. Now I raised up on trembling arms and looked over my shoulder to see Bao thrashing about in the water, and being helped by Kalpana to get a grip on the edge of the dam. His last pull on Rilrae and I had sent him falling back into the moat. Bao wasn’t such a swimmer, but Kalpana proved to be very helpful… once again. It was her grip on Bao that had allowed him to stop my drift and then haul us back up onto the dam.

Rilrae scrambled over to them and pulled them up to a standing position with supernatural ease. Before she could to aught else, an arrow sizzled into the water right behind Kalpana’s feet, and another spanged off the dam a few feet from my head.

A pair of Bowmen were high overhead, leaning out from the roof of the Palace to aim at us. Sending arrows straight down is an unusual task for an archer, yet it would not take them long to learn the correct angle. Even if I had my bow with me, my arms were shaking too badly from recent exertion for me to use it. None or the rest in our party had a weapon of distance, and there was only one place to go that would give us any cover from their arrows.

“Back inside!” Bao reluctantly ordered us.

Back into that horrible place, how would we be able to escape it again? Rilrae closed her eyes, hissing through her teeth, and Kalpana screamed. For half a heartbeat I was angry at them both, but Kalpana was looking up and her scream was joined by another one. This was a masculine scream, and it was approaching us at a tremendous speed.

Acting on pure reflex, Bao and I reversed ourselves and danced away from the sally port, pushing the girls along with us. Just a few feet away, a man’s body slammed into the surface of the moat. I had not see it, but a couple of floating arrows told me that it was one of the archers. If the fall had not killed him then his armor surely carried him straight to the bottom, never to rise again. We looked up to see the other archer had vanished, and in his place were the outlines of a familiar pair of men.

“Oh, I see now.” Ramachandra called to us with his usual aplomb. “You meant down _there_.” He had indeed seen my signal arrow, and drawn the wrong conclusion. Or rather, the more logical conclusion. He spun about and shouted again, not to us. “Bann, block it!”

The second figure left the wall, to block a passage, perhaps a trap door. Oh dear Gods, they had saved us, and now they were trapped up there! I wanted to weep when Ramachandra said to us; “You’d best go now. My crew will treat you well, but you must tell them …. _HOLY KRISHNA_!”

What an odd password, I thought, and then the sky was blotted out by a dark grey shadow.

Merrin slammed into the Fortress wall so hard that it shook, we actually saw the whole length of it ripple under the impact. Ramachandra was knocked from his perch and fell, but not far. Merrin caught him in one of his great claws, and quickly scooped up Bann as well. Both men were too stunned to scream, and before they could do aught to defend themselves Merrin’s mental voice told them; **Be glad in your choice of Allies**

The great Dragon was clinging to the upper works with is other claw, his hind-claws gouging the walls. His tail curled up and he deposited Ramachandra and Bann on it. **Go now, and do not look back**

His rage radiated from him like heat from a melting stove. **Usurpers, molesters, assassins and petty thieves with delusions of grandeur, your time has come!** The Dragon made an unknowing but perfect mockery of the speech Shahrukh had given them so recently. As his tail straightened, Ramachandra and Bann had just enough time to leap clear and into the moat before Merrin crawled over the wall and into the midst of those people. Screams were drowned out by a roar, a rush of fire, and the crash of a falling building.

“That is my father!” Rilrae told Kalpana. I smiled, and blinked away unshed tears. She had said that with unmistakeable pride in her voice.

 

We were still standing with our feet in water that sluiced menacingly around our feet.

“He did say not to look back.” Bao reminded us. We linked arms and walked towards the far bank. We were more than halfway there and I would have sworn that nothing could stop us ... until we saw something that made us halt. Sushulana was standing there, staring at her daughter.

One glance, and she could see it all. Sushulana understood exactly what Rilrae had been through. She looked horrified, nauseated, and swayed as if she might go to her knees before us.

Sushulana stood before us in the form she had been born in, the nearly-human Alfar shape. Up close, she did not exactly resemble anyone else that I had ever met except for Rilrae. She wore an embroidered woolen coat of the Vralian sort over her shoulders, Tatar-style boots with Ch’in leggings tucked into them. She was also unarmed, as far as I could see. This gave me hope that there was now peace in Riva, and some sort of treaty was being arranged when they had come for us. They must have known what was happening the moment Shahrukh had chocked out the last of his blood and used their best magic to have arrived so quickly. Merrin, also in his natural form, had attacked our foes, while Sushulana came to rescue us.

She looked as if she might need some help herself, how would she deal with her daughter now?

“And _this_ is my mother.” Hugging Kalpana to her side, Rilrae was beaming at her Mother. If she had been proud of her Father, what she showed her Mother now was purest admiration.

It was also love.

Sushulana staggered a half-step back, her mouth dropping open. She could also see what had developed between Rilrae and Kalpana, and that open mouth was starting to form a smile when a new sound came to us, something different from the seething flames rising from the palace. Hooves pounded the drawbridge, men were escaping the fortress mounted on all three of the horses that we had seen earlier. They were all dressed in black, Nan’s men, he himself probably among them.

Sushulana saw them at the same time they saw us, the leader shouted something to the others and guided their horses toward us. She held up a hand to our group as she stepped up to meet them and said “I’ve got this.” She glanced at the edge of the moat, where my bow lay half in and half out of the water. Sushulana did not reach for it, not knowing Mabon’s skill at crafting a good bow, she did not trust it to work properly.

Alone among us, Bao was not ready to take Sushulana’s word for it that she could handle them all, unarmed as she was. He hastened towards her while the rest of us carefully made our way across the treacherous dam. I was also having doubts when I saw the Elf shrug off her coat and reach into a coin purse, and sorted through a handful of coins until she found the three that she wanted. What did she think she could do, bribe these men? Nan and his crew either had murder on their minds or wanted to use us as a shield against the wrath of the Dragon. Sushulana was also taking too much time. The Gate was only two hundred paces away, and the lead rider was just a hundred away from her when she sprang into action.

She chanted strange words, and the coins began to glow. The slender little woman then launched herself into a series of three spinning leaps, throwing one coin each time with a sound that was part grunt and part screech. Each coin streaked straight at the head of one rider after another, smashing their foreheads and taking the tops of their skulls clean off. Sushulana hid how perfect her aim was by striking the rider at the rear _first_ , and the leader last. This served her well in that they could not see the effect her missiles were having, but it also allowed the leading rider to get close enough to send his own form of death towards her.

It was one of those metal disks with no center, thrown by him just before her last coin killed him. It flew true, there was no way for her to dodge it. Sushulana didn’t have to, Bao was there in time to bump her out of the way and slap the disk to the ground with one quick jab of his staff.

Sushulana landed on her feet, in water that was hip-deep. She smiled up at him, “Your reflexes are almost as commendable as your enthusiasm.”

We all rushed over to help her out of the moat. Sushulana did not need our help, yet Ramachandra and Bann were glad for it. Both were skilled swimmers, they were nonetheless burdened with unfamiliar clothing that became heavy when wet. They thanked us, took one long look at Sushulana, and then dashed away to grab the horses before they could panic and gallop away.

“Ever the practical ones…” Bao mused. He looked at Sushulana as well. “Rilrae has told us you can hurl Fireballs and launch Lighting bolts from your fingertips. What did you think we would need these Horses for?”

She did not look at him her eyes were all for her daughter. “I just didn’t want to hurt them.”

I recovered my bow and tossed Sushulana her coat. “Let’s keep moving, shall we?”


	40. Chapter 40

41

 

 

We did not go far, nor was there any point in doing so. our wet clothing was burdening our tired bodies, and sawing away at our most tender places with every step we took. The short trek went far enough to avoid the possibility of being struck by any debris that might fall from the fortress as Merrin wrecked his destruction upon it. Truthfully, we had little to worry about, the dragon was being very precise with his rampage. The sight was still spectacular; his reptilian mass wreathed in flame that did not bother him at all as he demolished all three of the buildings around the courtyard where a wedding had nearly happened.

For some of us, this sight was not so distracting.

Sushulana and Phaing were facing each other, standing very close with their arms on each other’s shoulders. Sushulana was standing on her toes and Rilrae had a far-away look in her eyes that I did not understand at first.

“Are they… communing, somehow?” Bao asked in a whisper.

That was when I remembered, Rilrae’s wet and shinning face; I can see… “Yes. She got something back.” I answered him the same way. “I think she is telling her mother what has happened.”

“Well, I hope her version won’t make us look bad.”

“Oh stop! What-“ I stopped when Sushulana began to speak.

“Why?” was all she said.

“So I could understand _you_ , of course.” Rilrae was blinking back some tears. “I jumped at the chance, and you know… I’m glad I did.”

  
I was glad for Rilrae. She would not be the outcast in her unique little family any longer. They were both trembling when they embraced and we all found it to be a very touching, very satisfying moment, until Sushulana starts fussing with what Rilrae was wearing.

“What is the world is … this?”

Rilrae had winced slightly when they had hugged, and Sushulana lifted the necklaces, revealing that Rilrae’s breasts were bound by an odd collection of hoops that made them jut out, somewhat painfully I would imagine. Her nipples had been pulled through a couple of rings, and much of her breasts had been pulled into bracelets, and thin chains had been wrapped around the base of each breast. All were gold, of course, they made her breasts jut out and look slightly comical, but they also made for a perfect shelf to display those gaudy necklaces.

“Tsk _tsk_ … hold still dearest.” Sushulana relieved Rilrae of all of that with an expert touch, as also stroked her gently as Rilrae hissed. Bao and I started to turn away, and we noticed Kalpana looking on, anxiously. She found her voice when she felt our eyes on her. “Any creature who would do such a thing, treat his _Bride_  in such a way-“

  
Rilrae smiled at her in a way she had not smiled at anyone else I had seen. “This in itself, means nothing. I could have accepted it from someone that was making some sort of sacrifices to be with me. If he had given up something in exchange,” her voice went lower when she looked back to Sushulana, “but Shahrukh was looking to profit by our union. He wanted certain advantages.” The color drained from her mother’s face, but Rilrae went on. “Even if everything else had been different, that one thing was enough to ruin it all, even earn him the death I gave him. Isn’t that right, mom?”

Sushulana closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them she was looking her daughter squarely in the eyes. “Truly. That one thing can tell us more than we ever want to know, sometimes.”

I still ponder such things. There are women who truly delight in being dominated, and revel in it in ways I do not think I will ever understand fully. Their curse is that there are so few men who are talented enough to do so… and many of those are so corrupt, venal and arrogant to make the women in their lives regret their choice… and eventually proving they were never really worthy of the sacrifice their women had made for them.

We would never know how exactly this last month had been lived by Rilrae, and Shahrukh, and Kalpana. All I can surmise is that it was far more complicated, with much more give and take than anyone who was not there would understand.

Ah, but Sushulana understood, and by that I count our mission, if that had ever been the right word for it, a success. She had no more questions for Rilrae, and silently offered her daughter the vralian coat. Rilrae immediately passed it over to Kalpana, who was starting to shiver slightly. Sushulana tilted her head Kalpana’s way, curious, and Rilrae nearly laughed as she said. “Oh! Mom, I want you to meet Kalpana. She and I…”

Sushulana understood immediately. She nodded, smiled approvingly, and asked Kalpana “Would you like to come home with us?” That was all she had to say for another embrace to begin, this one with three involved.

 

Bao and I were left out of this moment, and we finished turning away as Ramachandra and Bann returned to us. The third horse had bolted, and it had taken some time for them to ride it down. As they rode up, both of them opened their mouths to say something, and both men had the good sense not to shout or otherwise interrupt the scene taking place behind us.

Bao greeted them with this; “I distinctly heard yon Empress use the word ‘Home’. I do believe that means our travails are at an end… in _this_ matter, anyway.”

I wanted to smack him for saying it that way, and hug him because it was true at the same time. Before I could decide which to do first, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Something huge lifting free of the wreckage of the Palace, and winging its way towards us.

“Hold them!” I dashed to the horses, pulled their noses together by the bridles and willed them to be calm and still. Singing out one long note, I wanted them to be as Rodents in the shadow of an Eagle, frozen in place… instead of rearing up to dash Ramachandra and Bann to the ground. I succeeded, thanks be to the Great Bear.

Merrin landed behind them with a rush of wind and a mercifully soft thud. **Nicely done.** He complimented me, and it felt like a more sophisticated mental stroke than the one he used to keep the horses calm. **And more than just that. You two have done something remarkable here. Thank you, many times over. We _all_ thank you.**

Altho we could not fault her for it, Sushulana had yet to give our presence much notice. The fact that Merrin had communicated with us first meant a great deal to us. It also taught us something about what words like nobility and majesty are truly supposed to mean.

He next looked to Rilrae, and even with his great mind he appeared to be non-plussed. **You are going to be alright, yes?** An interesting way to phrase it. Instead of telling her she would be, he left it up to her to decide, and to tell HIM.

She flashed him a toothy grin and nodded, closing her eyes for an instant. “Yes. We all will be, I think…. what?”

When she opened her eyes, she saw his looking her up and down, still at a loss. The necklaces now hung loosely on her, revealing far more than they had when her breasts had been bound. This was probably why Sushulana had handed her the coat. As it turned out, we all misunderstood Merrin’s look and the meaning behind it.

He glanced at his fore-claws, and we noted that in each there was a large strong-box, of the sort that valuable trinkets and coins are stored in. Then he looked at all the gold his daughter was adorned with. **I was just thinking… that at least we have a decent treasury for our little realm now.**

There was a bit of laughter from all around. Even from Kalpana, who I suspect was just being polite. Bao and I were shocked, for different reasons. Was this Dragon really so materialistic, after all? Might they all be the sort that legends warned us of?

Bao understood more quickly and deeply than I did. “Do you mean to say… you have been running your ‘little’ realm all this time … with no Royal Treasury to speak of?!”  
Recalling the map we had seen in Bhaktipur, I knew that there was nothing little about the land they had taken responsibility for. I also could recall the banks I had dealt with, and also what I had heard of House Bryony and the vast wealth that the Courcel family held in reserve.  
It put things in a somewhat different light.

Merrin arched his eye at Bao, and then looked at Rilrae. **You haven’t been telling your new friends that we are rich, now have you?**

 

New _friends_ , Merrin said. He had included all of us in that, even Ramachandra and his crew.


	41. Chapter 41

42

 

 

 

Ramachandra and Bann were introduced, and after a few kindly words Merrin asked them to meet us down below. He made it plain that we would be there to meet him without saying how exactly this would be done. They left, after ogling Rilrae in a good-natured sort of way… for adventurous men such as themselves. “We just want a good look at what we were fighting for.” And without any further inquiry on our matters, they rode off to collect the men he had left in their ambush position and make their way down to the sea again.

The remaining five of us were invented to touch Merrin, and the instant we did, we found ourselves in another place. After just an eye blink of strange discontinuity, we were all standing in a small clearing amidst thickets of tree-sized bushes and a small waterfall that flowed into a familiar creek. None of us had to be told that we were near to the coast, the mountains we had been among an instant before were now towering at our backs, and the lazy, humid heat of the coast blanketed us all.

The water here was warm and refreshing, very unlike the moat that we had all been treated to. We showered under the waterfall while our clothes dried on low-hanging branches, and then gathered around a fire that Merrin had made by spitting on a pile of driftwood. I hadn’t known he could do that in Human form, as indeed he became while we were in the water. Sitting there naked in the twin glows of the fire and the setting sun did not seem so bizarre, not with Sushulana leading by example. We also had the heady victory behind us that, for once, had not left anyone dead that we had come to know personally.  
However, there was also Vralia.

 

Bao and I were spared having to launch into another long recounting of our adventures. Merrin and Sushulana learned most of what they wanted to know from Rirlae very quickly. After weeks of straining against the bonds imposed on her by Shahrukh, she had found her psychic voice at last. This one did not require her to hide behind a cloak of dreams, and we were naturally curious about that. Other things had to come first… there were a few questions for us, and questions from us.

“You want to know about Vralia?” Merrin asked us, while Sushulana fussed over her daughter again. Her fingertips examined the horns and tail while Rilrae was accepting it with an aplomb that would have been a remarkable thing for the Rilrae we had met last Spring.

“Yes.” I said quickly.

Bao had never been anywhere near Vralia. His interest was only out of concern for my state of mind. “We didn’t pull you away at a crucial time, did we?”

“I don’t believe so. Each side has been taking turns at causing delays in the negotiations, or their own purposes.”

“Negotiations?” That sounded like a hopeful word to me. “The fighting is over, then?”

Merrin smiled, and I think he rolled his eyes, just a little. “The sort that involves steel and blood? Yes, for some time now. The fighting has now devolved to the sort waged by words and gestures.”

“The Patriarch?” I asked. I would have asked more, but my mouth was suddenly as dry as a block of salt.

“The Duke killed him.”

That set even Bao back on his heels. “The Duke? Not his nephew?”

“Certainly not!” Merrin said, echoing my thoughts exactly. “It happened like this; Riva had to be evacuated with some haste and there was only one way for them to go; across that Great Lake. The Patriarch and the Duke arrived at the same time, and there was only one boat waiting for them. Both arrived with a heavily laden wagon. The Duke had his riches, and the Patriarch had a few icons and crates of his papers. You are not the only one that old wretch had been documenting so obsessively, Moirin. His sheafs of paper were both heavier and took up more space than the Duke’s treasury. There was an argument, of course, and this one ended only when the Duke dealt the Patriarch a back-handed blow with a club, one that broke his neck. There was a bit of a row over that, and by the time the Duke and his men had restored order half the boat’s crew had deserted their posts. None the less, the Duke loaded the boat with his loot and his most loyal followers, and off they went. They had not gone far, perhaps 100 paces, when the Duke happened to look back and see one of the errant boatmen standing on the dock they had just left. Two things caught the Duke’s attention. One was the braided chord hanging from one of the boatmen’s hands, it was dripping wet. The other was his face, revealed as he pulled his sealskin hood back. It was no boatman, it was Aleksei.

“Now, the thing you should know about those boats is how they are made. They don’t use many nails or pegs, it is mostly tied planks, and this Aleksei was holding some of that very cordage, which he had removed right after he had seen his Uncle murdered. The Duke knew exactly what he was seeing, and instantly ordered his boat to turn around and head back to shore. The panic in his voice must have made his men throw the tiller over a bit too hard, but the end result wasn’t going to be long in coming no matter what they did. One side of the boat sprang apart, overturning the whole thing and sending it all straight to the bottom. That lake is exceptionally deep, and there is a bit of a current in that area. Sushulana has recommended that whichever side finds the treasure first should give up fishing rights in that lake for half a century.”

“Side?” Bao asked, and I cut him off.

“What about the _papers_?”

“Oh, we distributed those to the Tatar.” Merrin answered with casual irony.”

What! _Why_  would you do that?!” Tatar are among the world’s most well-traveled people. Would they barter them, would the Patriarch’s twisted version of my story live beyond me?

“The Tatar love that paper, even if the count the Vralian script as being rather ugly to look at. The paper itself makes the most wonderful kindling for their hearth-fires.”

 

It was good to laugh again. “Was that the end of it?”

Merrin nodded again. “The beginning of the end, for the war itself. That very lake is now considered the eastern-most boundary of Vralia, and the western-most limit of Ch’in influence. The Tatar were not happy about the Ch’in outflanking them to the north like that, it seems they consider the Vralians to be the more enjoyable opponent. By marooning himself on the east side of the Lake, Aleksei had doomed himself to becoming a captive, and we saw to it that he was present at the negotiations. We were thinking that he should have something to say for the many other Vralians that fell into the hands of the allies, but he surprised us. The young man suggested a compromise, and the conquered area is now a Tributary State of the Empire, and is also still open to Tatar trade and travelers. The Tatar themselves have no interest in that sort of real-estate, too many trees, and the Ch’in know how to discretely exercise limited control over the furthest corners of their realm.”

“None better.” Bao admitted. “What of the rest of Vralia?”

“No doubt, they are relieved that this unprecedented alliance of Tatar and Ch’in cost them so little.” His eyes darkened as he grinned. “And if they are not, I will see to it that they _are_.”

“You and I both.” Sushulana left Rirlae’s side and snuggled in close to Merrin. Rilrae put an arm around Kalpana, but did not snuggle as she watched her parents, and then Bao and I. She knew what the next round of questions would be. “And the Snow Tiger sends her love, and her desire for a few uneventful years that she can enjoy with her Guardian and concubine, Ten Tigers Dai.”

So, he had stayed by her side, and been elevated… if I understood the meaning correctly. I’m not sure that Sushulana herself and she did not explain if she had revealed her nature to them as fully as she had with the Rani Amrita. What she wanted to know was; “How _did_  you manage to find Rilrae so quickly, and with such fine timing?”

“In truth, our timing was nearly a disaster, and when we did find her, we thought that we had done it all for nothing.” This caused a few raised eyebrows at Rilrae, and there were more to come before we were done with our brief summation of the day just past.

“So, by killing Shahrukh you hoped that we would happen to glance this way and materialize at your side in the nick of time?” Merrin asked Rilrae sharply.

“Isn’t that what happened?” she quipped, and instantly thought better of it. She sighed, “I really wasn’t thinking past killing him. I had to get rid of him before he hurt any of _you_ , and the realm in general. I knew that once the ceremony was over, I would never be able to raise a hand against him, there were spells involved.”

“So you chose defiance over life itself.” Sushulana flashed a toothy smile and nudged Merrin. “Remind you of anyone?”

“All too well.” Deflated and unable to continue with what he was going to say, he sighed as well and started down a track that his daughter did not allow him to go down;  
“We-“

“Have your own lives to live!” Rilrae interrupted firmly. “What I did… I _DID_. I made my choices, and Kalpana,” She hugged the young woman closer to her side, “agreed to take the risks with me. In fact, some of it was your idea, wasn’t it?”

Kalpana shrugged, and yawned. August company or not, she had not slept in days and looked as if she was held up by Rilrae’s arm alone. “Choices, agreements, we saw what needed to be done and we did it. What else matters?”

“A fine choice for a lover you made there.” Sushulana purred, and then pointed at Bao and I, a little puzzled. “You …. and she…. never?”

“No, never!” Bao insisted.

“I see. Why not?”

Bao threw up his hands. “If I live to be a hundred, you d’anglines will still be the strangest people in the world to me!”

Sushulana appeared to be pleased, and then a little upset at the same time. Being referred to a d'Angeline always seemed to make her feel good. As for the other thing... 

“Oh… ah Moirin! You two have both done us a wonderful favor. All of us are in your debt and ever shall be, but I fear we may have to do you a bad turn here, for a good reason.” She sat up, a very earnest look in her eyes, on that pleaded for understanding. “Have you been seen your Queen in your dreams since we last met?”

What a strange thing so ask! I was nearly offended, until I remembered; “No, not a single time. Why would you- “ I cut myself off when I saw that Sushulana was disappointed to hear that. Saddened, in fact. “What is wrong?”

Sushulana hesitated, a rare thing for her in any circumstances. “I… have been thinking a lot about what happened at our first meeting. And doing a lot of praying while you were away. I suppose there is a fine line between what our own minds put together, and a vision sent from the Gods. Maybe this is both, but it feels too important… and yes, I could hear something that came from the Gods, its not like _you_  are the only one,” She was looking at Merrin when she said that, and she looked to us. “My mate here is the one in this family the Gods normally confide in. He’s actually conversed with them more than once!”

“ _Twice_.”

“Still counts as more than once.”

“What-“ Bao and I both started to ask at the same time. I wasn’t sure what to ask, so Bao went on; “What are you trying to get at?”

You, Moirin, had been contacted by someone from beyond the point where people are still supposed to be able to contact us at all. It is not unprecedented, but it is a delicate and tricky thing. And the problem is…. something somebody said may have upset the balance… passer her own revulsion and fear of it on to you.”

Rilrae gasped, and looked stricken. I had not wish to torment her with this, I just held up a hand to her and shook my head, trying to focus on Sushulana. “Why is that so important? I love her dearly, but why is this so important to you? To anyone but us?”

“That is what I wonder as well. It isn’t the why that intrigues me so much as the How it was even possible. Your Jehanne wasn’t a sorceress or a student of the occult, nor given over to serious introspection and meditation, now was she?”

The answer was so obvious that I simply shook my head.

“Alright then, something that would have been almost impossibly difficult for any of those sort people could not be done at all by your Queen. Therefore, she was getting help, somehow.”

“And so you leap straight to the will of the Gods?” Merrin asked.

“Yes. For something of this magnitude, I certainly do. Moirin, I believe this is being permitted to happen or assisted somehow because it is important for you. Some sort of advice or information needs to be passed to you…” She snapped her fingers at me as my mind began to race, “… No! Being overly eager for this kind of thing can block it just as effectively as not wanting it at all. Damnit! This isn’t helping either, aaah!” She looked to Merrin again. “What can we do to make this right?”

“I am afraid the solution is as obvious as it is odious. Moirin, Bao, I am afraid that there are certain things that you are going to have to forget.”


	42. Chapter 42

43

 

 

And so, at last, what I had done to so many others back in Ch’in would be done to me. There was a certain justice in it, but there was also a problem. “I can’t do that to myself! I never tried, and… oh… _you_ can, like you did with Rilrae?”

“No.” Merrin thought for a moment, or perhaps he was looking _into_  me. “Not the way you can. I can shield you from what you know, put up roadblocks, as it were, but it would merely be a mental trick. In time, you would recover those memories. And, in time, I think you would want them back anyway.”

Bao was certainly in agreement with that. He had dimmed, inside and out, when he thought about losing any of his memories… or any part of himself.

We would have to think about it, and so we paired off and slept on beds of reeds while our clothes continued to dry. I wished we were still in that strange and magical garden up in the mountains, but perhaps it would have been more difficult to think clearly there. My head was clear enough to know a few things; that we could not count on the idea that my adventures were over, and that Merrin knew more than he was letting on, and most of all… Jehanne did not mean my any evil. She was also too strong-willed and wily to be used by any evil power like that. If Rilrae could overcome something like that, Jehanne’s spirit most assuredly could.

 

Sleep brought no new revelations, nor any hint of any mental probing. Not that I knew anything for certain, only my feelings and knowing that I was among people who felt indebted to me.

“This is one strange way to do us a favor.” Bao said while we talked it over in the pre-dawn stillness

“Aye, my damnable destiny, again. I did not think that there would be so much more to it. What troubles me, and makes this seem sensible is… what will we find when we return to Terre d’Ange? Will the court be in chaos, will they resent me or welcome us back with open arms, will they ask something of us?”

“Will you immediately go on a crusade and demand that Merrin and Sushulana be given some form of public recognition, and welcomed back into that realm?” Bao asked without truly asking. “Anyone that does not know that you would does not know you at all, beloved. And if things are the least little bit chaotic in the City of Elua, then…. “

“Then any mention at all of these two and their long-forgotten story would be a needless distraction. And any revelation of their long-concealed realm would be even worse.”

We lay side by side, like the couple in the Garden above so long ago, and here we were talking of _this_ sort of thing instead of making love one more time. The stars were overhead, stars that navigators used the world over to find their way. It made Bao think of something. “That realm is not so hidden, not to people in this part of the world. With all this exploring that is going on, it is only a matter of time before word gets back to Terre d’Ange.”

“In some way or another…. aye, it is inevitable.” I sat up. “Oh… and so the limited duration of our amnesia?”

“Ask _them_. And then ask them again, when we get our memories back. No doubt they will keep watch over us, hopefully they will be ready to help us through this when the time comes. This will be a lot to keep hidden, even if it was only a few months of our time.” Bao got up and gave me a hand, leading me into the creek again. “Water,” he sighed, and scooped up a handful. “I suppose there will be a great deal more of this in our future. We can’t go north, can we? Not with all this talk of war between Mnekhet and Akkad. There is no way that we could pass between those places without attracting all the wrong sort of attention.” I shuddered, and he put his arms around me. “No, we can’t do that. Although I will admit, the sight of our ship being pulled across the sand to the Southern Sea by a pair of dragons would have been a memorable one. Do you think they might have agreed to that?”

“I doubt there is anything they would refuse us now.” While the mental picture of the two of them straining like oxen to haul Ramachandra’s ship over the dunes made me giggle into his chest, it was not a fate I cared to tempt. I had not learned overly much about those nations during my time in the City of Elua, yet I did know that those were the most intrigue-ridden nations outside of Caerdicci Unitas. Aside from our aversion to more strife, there were simply too few of us, and no telling what we might become entangled in. “What options do we have?”

Bao kissed the top of my head. “The same route we took aboard the Greatship. Down, _south_ I mean, and then up north again. The winds may be against us, it may take us a year, perhaps longer-“

“Let it!” I looked up at him. “A year with nothing to worry about, our shared diadh-anam quiet in the knowledge that we are obeying the call homeward … be it at our own pace, and a few exotic ports to call on along the way. It sounds like a fine honeymoon, aye?”

“ _Aye_ , it does.” he kissed me again, this time full on the lips. “Hmmm… we will need Ramachandra.”

“So? As if he, of all people, would pass up a chance to see Terre d’Ange? Hah! A few of Rilrae’s necklaces should be all the fee required to induce him to see this through.”

“It sounds as if your minds are all made up.” Sushulana spoke softly from the bank, chewing a bit of straw as she sat and watched us standing together in the shallow water.

Bao tensed up, just a little, and then sighed. “Is there some trick to that?”

“What?”

“To your ability to observe other people’s intimate moments without offending them.”

The Elf shrugged. “Dunno. Guess it has something to do with the fact that I never hold it against anyone that does it to me.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “The clothes are dry, finally. Come join us when you are ready, we have a few details to work out.”

 

 

— TEN YEARS LATER —

 

 

Our life had had assumed a happy, idyllic, and fairly routine way of it seven Summers after our return to Alba. One might even call it routine, if one were observing it from a distance. Reversing the pattern of a Cruach of old, we spent our Summers in Alba and out Winters in the City of Elua. This gave us the best of both worlds; Summers in Alba were busy yet beautiful, Winters in Terre d’Ange are also known as the “Social Season” and for good reason. We missed our first winter in that pattern, with the birth of Valentina being something I wanted to happen in our home… in Alba. Called Vala by most people, she has skin like mine, eyes like Bao and blue-black hair that sparkled darkly even in moonlight. Precocious and unpredictable, I could not tell if she preferred life in Terre d’Ange or Alba. In all truth, Vala herself didn’t know or seem to be very concerned with such things yet, proving herself wiser than her own fretful mother.

Our son Arslan had more definite opinions on the matter. Just three last fall, he had kicked up such a fuss on arriving in Terre d’Ange that we nearly went back, but it was too late. The storms had been especially brutal this last winter, and deadly for many sailors. As such things tend to go, the summer we were currently enjoying was the mildest in living memory, and Alba as a whole had never been more restful and lovely.

For _most_  people, I mean to say.

 

This was also the first summer that a member of the Courcel family had accompanied us north and across the waters into Alba, and to our home.

Princess Desiree would be put off no longer.

Ah, Desiree! The confusing succession of faces and events of the first half-dozen years of her life had left her precious little to cling to, little that had proven strong enough to return after having been taken from her. Sister Gemma, Bao, and myself comprised nearly all of it. We were her anchors, her proof that faith in people could be justified. Her brother the King was a great boon to her, but she had no memory of him prior to his return when she was six years old. Now she had a dozen winters behind her, and the woman she would become was evident to us all. Sometimes I would feel tear welling behind my eyes when I saw her… if her resemblance to Jehanne had broken her father’s heart when she was but a babe, at this point in her life it might have broken his mind.

There were times when it felt as if my heart was close to breaking, but not for that reason.

Desiree doted on Vala and Arslan both, and not in the little-girl manner of tending living dolls. There was a gentleness about her, a deep and careful adoration for children that were scarcely younger than Desiree was herself. King Thierry had noticed this too, and was every bit as disturbed as I was by this. Desiree would make a wonderful mother, and she would want to be one, very much. The reason this disturbed us so much was very simple;

Jehanne’s mother had nearly died giving birth to her, Jehanne herself _had_  died, giving birth to Desiree.

We were not the only people who were worried, and so the Court gave it’s blessings to Desiree accompanying us to Alba. The Princess was on the cusp of her 13th year. Her dawning understanding of certain issues would make this a chaotic time for her. Our d’Angeline cousins thought it only proper that the Princess learn to deal with herself under the tutelage of Lady Moirin of the Maghuin Dhonn, as if I were the second coming of Alais the Wise.

If only they had known…

 

My people tell me that my saving grace is Grace itself. Humility, they call it. The works of elder heroes such as Phe’dre no Delaunay and Prince Imriel seem to bear this out. It is something we have in common, or so they tell me. I myself always feel that there is something important hovering just beyond my understanding. What Bao and I saw in the eyes of the Great Bear herself was enlightening, calming, and so wonderful that recalling it gives me the strength to accept everything as it is… with the exception of my own self.

I should have been _better_  than I was, this was the thought that came back to me whenever I took my seat in the cavern, either before my advisors or to minister to my people. There were also those who came to be accepted by the Bear, sometimes three or four of them. Some years, depressingly, there were none.  
This year was one of them.

We were fading. This was not new information, it had been a fact of life for the Maghuin Dhonn since before I was born. It still managed to cast a shadow over our happiness. We had much to be happy about, Bao and I. We had two healthy children and two wonderful homes and the freedom to travel between them. We had no real enemies, we enjoyed the good will of people in general and had many fine allies. My complaint that I didn’t “know anything” proved largely false. We are an intuitive people, by an large, and my intuition had proven sound. My tutors had been awed that I had duplicated Nemed’s memory-stealing ability on my own, and impressed with the way I had been able to expand my use of the Twilight. There was more to learn, of course, much of it being the lore of our people.

In truth, we are a simple people. The greatest complication to enter our lives in a century had been a certain half-breed Bear Witch that had traveled the length of the known world and returned with her Ch’in husband and tales that defied belief. No, not simply defied it, but expanded beliefs. There was talk of younger ones among us eager to duplicate my travels. None had done so, yet, and I attributed that to the truthful way that Bao and I had told of our journeys, all of the hardships and pitfalls being included in that telling.

There were also a good many people eager to talk to us about our travels. They did not come to our lands, nor did they have to. We visited Innisclan every year, as we did the Cruach of Alba. We maintained good relations with the rulers of Alba ad enjoyed his homey hospitality as often as we could… altho none of our visits lasted as long as the fortnight of our first visit on the year of our return. Even when we arrived with Desiree, he only kept us a week to entertain the first d’Angeline Princess his land had seen.

 

Desiree was thrilled with everything she saw in Alba. I doubt she would have been more enthusiastic about seeing Terra Nova (something her Brother had forbidden until she was fully grown). There were many legends that tied Alba to Terre d’Ange, stretching back for generations. Desiree had studied them and called out landmarks that she has learned about from her books.

Two of the books she brought with her, and caused us to have an unusually eventful Summer once she was willing to show them to us. One was titled Elua’s Nightmare, the other; Elua’s Covenant.


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just a quick little one, because I hate letting a weekend go by without posting, and because I found a cute end point.

44

 

 

“Where did you _get_  these?”

“Get? That word implies that someone gave them to me. The correct word would be find. I found them… although now that I think about it, I have to admit that something may _have_ been leading me there.”

I had only just started the first book when I had to question Desiree about it. The very first pages written by Queen Sidonie, or supposedly written by her, were at odds with her reputation. What little I knew of that Queen did not allow for such warmth, I must admit, and the strange part was that it was  _not_  so much at odds with what her portrait in the hall of ancestors had revealed of her. I had sent Bao off with Vala and Arslan on one of his routine journeys to the nearest village, so that I might have some time to be alone with Desiree. I hadn’t told him why, yet, and let Bao and everyone else assume there was a more prosaic reason. Once I knew more, I would not be able to avoid telling him.

The guest room we had given Desiree enchanted her with its simplicity and beauty. The only things that made it different from the other rooms in our cave was the circular stairs leading up to it, and the raised alcove for the bed. We sat together on that bed with the books between us; she with that petite attentiveness that was second nature to her, and I with my legs crossed and my head bowed over those strange books.

“Leading you… could you please tell me everything about how you found them?”

Desiree smiled, dazzlingly of course, and spoke with a light & sweet voice. “There isn’t all that much to the matter. The room I call my own has a secret exit, and a passageway leading to the rooms behind the theater. I use it to spy on performers practicing a new act, or just to listen to music.”

“Wait… who showed it to you?”

“Nobody.” She giggled at the look I gave her. “I’m perfectly capable of finding things on my own! One dull day last Summer, I decided there must be something hidden in my room, and I found it. It was rather more than I had expected to find, but there was nothing sinister about it.” I nodded at the books, and she hastened to add; “These I found in an alcove, a hidden place within the hidden passageway. I thought I had heard music through the wall, and behind a false panel was a peep-hole looking down on the stage… and these tomes. That was just before the mid-winter Ball, the last one I plan to miss.”  She arched an eyebrow at me,  _that_ was something that was important and immediate to her. These books on the other hand were a curiosity that a twelve year-old could set aside for a talk about her all-important entry into the social world of adulthood.

Or, perhaps not. I already knew that she had shown these books to no-one else before she had given them to me.

“Do you think that all this is… is true?”

“That, dear protector, is what I was going to ask you.”

 

I didn’t like that. Here I was, scarcely more than thirty, and I felt as if I was being asked to decipher an ancient text from a foreign land. Of course they not any such things, these books were just over a century old and from the Kingdom I knew as my second home. There were parts that were strangely familiar in ways I could not name, such as that otherworldly woman named Phaing. There was also the revelation of the true fate of Carthage.

I had known it from Imriel’s story, a wicked old place of slavery and sorcery that had supposedly fallen to it’s own corruption after their schemes were defeated. What used to be Carthage was now a collection of city-states, a handful of which were still ruled by Caerdicci or Hellenic migrants. What these pages revealed of its demise seemed fantastic, and yet none of the results were contradicted by history itself. Kyrnos’s inclusion into the Kingdom was another item, one of the ones that became less strange reading this book.

It affected me in other ways, my dreams became restless and my waking mind wandered so much that Bao insisted on knowing why, and then took to reading the book himself. I warned him that many points in the story would seem peculiar, even ridiculous, only to be sorted out later on. He in turn had some insights of his own;

“This Sidonie … while she must have been fascinating to have known in person, I am a little glad that I never did. She is so ruthless when it comes to telling the truth, she spares herself nothing! Nor anyone else in the book. Where others would simply say “so & so cursed” _this_  woman recounts the exact words, no matter how brutal or obscene. And even if it is obvious she had second thoughts about doing so, her details about her encounters with that  _Alfar_ …. Gods … Desiree read all of this? Last winter?”

I had to smile that he was so unnerved by that. “Desiree is d’Angeline, through and through. I trust her to have seen through what others would call crass and understand the redemption that began in those moments.”

“Well, she certainly does make this Phaing… this _Sushulana_ person seem to be worth knowing. I wonder if we shall ever meet her.”

Merrin, on the other hand, was a creature ... and a concept ... that was stupefying. Aislinn was the next person we showed the book to after we were done with it, and on the basis of that Dragon alone refused to believe it could be true. “How could he exist? Traveling through worlds and confronting Gods as he did… and yet not knowing his own heart? No, no such being could exist in such a contradictory state. And all those worlds? They make it sound as if every star over our heads have worlds of their own, similar to our own and yet different from our own in such a crucial detail as Elua and his companions? What nonsense!”

Bao and I, who had seen more than we could explain in the Bear Goddess’s eyes, knew differently.

 

By the end of the second book, we knew it was all true. This one was very different, having been penned by Merrin himself, and it did make him more understandable. He was more careful with what he revealed, and more careless in other ways. Had any enemies discovered his description of his idyllic realm it it’s early days, they could have wrought havoc on its people. We decided against showing Aislinn this book when Hyacinth’s true fate was revealed, and their part in it.  
That was also when our memories began to return to us.

They did not come all at once, nor did they all come in order. It was more like some great, spinning wheel that our minds made contact with occasionally, leaving a little something with every skidding contact. Things that I had barely touched on in my memoirs were now filled out. The girl with black skin, spitting into the hand of a God to keep the Black Diamond safe. The same girl spitting into the mouth of a beautiful Tiger shaped like a man, it’s pelt shimmering in the sun.

Bao would sometimes say something odd; “Well, at least they have a treasury now,” or “Yes, I really would like to see that place again,” and let me know that he was remembering these things also. He was not afraid, but glad to be finding all these new things out. “I feel … _larger_. The gray areas in my mind are expanding, and clearer now. I remember the two of them, sailing with us to the bottom of the world and most of the way back. It wasn’t always the same two, yet Merrin was always there, easing us along towards forgetfulness. Huh, good thing he did! Without Jehanne we would never have known...”

Yes, and all of those sleepy little villages along the ever-changing coast, over a year of peaceful sailing to avoid a war that never came to pass. That voyage restored us, but not I had to wonder if it had been worth while. Could we have done more good if we had arrived sooner? 

Then there came a day, and a night, where all the pieces came together. That dreadful scene between mother and daughter, and the reunion that set things to right for them. The true nature of our leaving of Bhodistan, and the terrible fate that we had helped change. We don’t recall much of what happened that day, both of us sleep-walking through a small fraction of our daily routine and then simply sitting around, contemplating what was happening in our minds.

Desiree, vivacious as her mother and yet for more gentle, took charge of Vala and Arslan when she saw that our children might be upset at seeing us so inert. Camlan kept watch over us while Briehd kept watch over the children, and all was well outside our swirling psyches.

This was reversed the very next morning.

Bao and I woke refreshed and smiling at each other. “They kept their word.” Bao sat up, and immediacy fell back into bed at my side. “Ah, I’d advise you not rising too swiftly. The effect is similar to the morning after too much of that Uisghee stuff.”

I threw my legs over the side of the bed, otherwise remaining flat on my back. I would rise as gradually as possible, there were so many important thoughts competing for space in my head, I feared losing one of them. First and foremost was something that Desiree said to me when we were together on her bed, contemplating those books; “If this IS true, then there is a wrong that needs to be righted. I want to, and I would like your help doing so.”

We had only just managed to leave the bed when there was a commotion in the main room, and Briehd rushed into our bedroom. Disheveled and wide-eyed, he breathlessly reported; “Lady, Master…. there is a Dragon at your door!”

Bao rolled his eyes at me. “Well, _that_  didn’t take long, did it?


	44. Chapter 44

45

 

Throwing a robe over my night-slip, I went straight to my children’s room. Both heavy sleepers, they were just sitting up and Vala was rubbing her eyes. I would have woken them in any case, missing out on an encounter with a Dragon was not something they would ever forgive me. There was no chance for me to say anything to them before Desiree came bounding into the central room and cried out;

“It isn’t one of _your_  Dragons!” She had looked out through the slatted covers of her widow. “This one is Black!”

Bao immediately doubled back into the bedroom and picked up his staff.

Vala perked up immediately. “A Dragon?” She showed no fear, not after our tales of the one we had known in Ch’in.

Arslan reacted differently. His grasp on words was still slippery, but he was very sensitive to my moods. “Moma, what’s wrong?”

We knew of no Black Dragons.

“Stay _here_!” I snapped my fingers to Desiree. “In there, with them.” I dare say that nobody had ever spoken to the Princess in such a way, but she simply nodded and dashed in as I left the children’s room. The danger was immediate and grave, she had seen it with her own eyes.

Bao joined me in the middle of the central room and asked Breihd; “Camlan, Brice, where?”

“The stables.”

Brice de Bretel was an old friend from our journey to Terra Nova, and the only member of the Princess’s personal guard that we had allowed to stay in our home. He was the only one we had room to accommodate, truth be told, and lately he and Camlan had taken to having assignations of their own in the hayloft over our small stable. They had no stone walls between them and our dark visitor, only wooden boards, and if they should look out and panic…

“We’d better go see.” Bao said resolutely and walked to the window nearest the door. He peeked out through the slats, and said nothing aside from a curious “Huh.” as he gestured for me to join him. I peeked as well, and then glanced at him. He smirked. “There is something familiar about that one.”

Black indeed, this Dragon was the size of a Stagecoach had scales that looked as perfect as the black lacquer that the Ch’in had perfected. It sat on it’s haunches with its wings folded and it’s head hanging low, eyes partly closed. Dawn had just come, and the sunlight slanting through the trees bathed it’s right side in gentle summer light. Its eyes had a reddish glow to them, and there were red highlights at the edges of the larger scales. The horns and claws were a different color, much like gold.

“You think… _Rilrae_?”

“Do you know of any other candidates?” Bao was grinning now, in that insolent way of his. “One way to make sure.” He opened the door and stepped out before I could stop him. “Rilrae! Is that you?”

The head came up and the eyes snapped open. There came a great sigh, and then a nod, and the head dipped again. The eyes closed all the way now.

Bao was relieved, as was I, and also deflated by her odd behavior. He called out to Brice and Camlan to let them know that all was well, and turned to me with a look that said he wasn’t sure anything was going well at all. “ _Gods_ Moirin, what now?”

“Nothing is wrong!” Rilrae’s voice rang out. When we looked out again, the image of her old self was standing before her Dragon’s body. It was not a perfect illusion. She was wrapped in a white sari with red fringes and a few other non-Bhodistani embellishments, and we could see through the white fabric to the Dragon behind her, somewhat. “Hello! Ah, I didn’t want to scare anyone, but more than that, I didn’t want to intrude on your minds at all. I flew all night to get here and, well, direct sunlight makes me want to doze right off!” She took a step towards Bao and smiled, standing in profile while she gestured to her dragon-self, and to her illusionary body. “Not bad, eh?”

I turned away from the window and sagged against the wall. Oh yes, that was Rilrae, no doubts about it. I sank to a crouch and saw my children and Desiree peering around the corner of their doorway at me.

“Oh dear ones, its alright! Come out and meet a friend of ours, an old companion that we had to forget about for a while.”

“And now, you remember?” Desiree grinned. “Ah, so that is what you and Bao-“

Arslan saw the Dragon through the window. He gasped, and then with a toddlers cry of delight he ran for the door with nary a toddle in his step at all. Vala chased after him, and Desiree after them both. I had no choice but to chase after all of them.

We tumbled out into the sunshine and past Bao, past Rilrae excepting myself. They barely paid her any mind, I reached out to hug her and found my hands passing through her.

“Ah, yes… that.” She held out her hands in a helpless gesture. I also noticed that the sound of her voice only _seemed_ to be coming from her mouth. “I’m sorry, this is a handy spell, but it does have it’s limits.”

“Why, then?” I glanced between the two versions of her. “Why not just…”

“Transform, you mean?” her smile turned to a grimace. “I only just managed to get my Dragon-self in order. I could go back to what you remember, but this whole business of re-ordering my very structure does not come easily to me. I don’t have the knack, some would say. Not yet, maybe someday. I could change back, but it would require half a year of meditation.”

Bao swallowed. “ _How_ long?” He shook that train of thought out of his head. “We have our memories back now, in case you were wondering. If you wanted to contact us, why not do it in our dreams?”

Rilrae held her head high. “I no longer dream my way through life.” Looking at me, she added; “And even if I still could, I would not want to come to you that way. I would feel as if I was stomping my way over sacred ground.”

“That is very considerate of you, Rilrae.” I glanced over at the children. After some hesitation, all three of them were giving tentative strokes to the parts of the Dragon that they could reach. She appeared to be sleeping, and I guessed that she was concentrating on her projection of her true self. I also saw that Brice and Camlan were trotting up to join us. Both were fully dressed, proving that they had been awake and seen the Dragon before we had, and Brice held a spear in one hand.

“You weren’t thinking of using that on _me_ , were you?” Rilrae asked him, sounding amused.

“Don’t hurt the sleepy dragon!” Vala shouted at Brice, and Arslan did his best to shield one of Rilrae’s forelegs with his body.

“Very well then,” Rilrae chuckled. “Shall I start again with my explanations?”

 

We gathered around a table that I had set up outside in a small garden that was coming along nicely. Rilrae did most of the talking, and insisted on sitting where she could keep an eye on her body… which made me very curious about what she was doing, and how. There was much else to be curious about, and once she had explained herself in a way that all eight of us could understand (for the most part) Rilrae began to look tired, and more transparent. “I am sorry, I cannot keep this up for very much longer, and there is no way for me to mimic speech using my mouth in the form it is now. Another trick for me to master some day in the future.”

Everyone was glancing back and forth between the image of Rilrae and the Dragon, trying to get used to the idea that the two were the same person. All but Vala, who was just the right age for this to make sense to her. A Dragon could do whatever it wanted to, of course. What she found curious that we had never mentioned knowing such a magical being. I said to her; “Dear heart, you know I can take away memories that are too terrible for someone to keep, yes?” This was news to Brice, and I was happy to see it. Desiree had been keeping my secrets well.

“Yes, so?” Vala was not making any great leaps of logic at her age, and Arslan had lost interest in the conversation already. He had walked under the table to play with the fringes on Rilrae’s Sari. She made a game of having the insubstantial fabric dance away from his fingers.

“To prevent your mother and I from being distracted during our mission in Terra Nova, Rilrae’s father did something like that for us.” Bao smiled at Rilrae. “Tell him he has our thanks for doing that, Jehanne had crucial information for us. And thank you, for giving them back to us.”

“Oh, that wasn’t me! Like I said, I don’t move in dreams anymore. Father did that, from our home.” She hastened to add that last part, my eyes had gone skyward. “I will pass that on to him. He exhausted himself doing that and had to go sleep for a while. Not a long one, he should be catching up with you sometime next month.”

The children giggled, even Desiree could not hold back. “Now _that_  is one sleepy Dragon!”

“And your mother?”

“Here. Somewhere nearby, I mean. She will approach you this evening, which is when I have to leave.”

“Leave?” This was a strange visit, already awkward because we could offer no refreshment to her ghostly image, and now it was to be cut so short? “Why?”

“Flying across the countryside is something I prefer to do at night, it causes less of a commotion if they cannot see me. There is something about my scent that attracts Bears.” She smiled, and nodded to herself. Not that I don’t enjoy a good tussle with something large enough to be a good challenge, but here… I think the word would be 'impolitic', yes?”

I held up my hands. “There is no faulting your logic there! What about Kalpana?”

Rilrae hung her head a little sideways. “Married with children and happy, now.” She shrugged. “People who are thrown together by dramatic circumstances do not always turn out to be compatible in other situations.”

“You sound as if you are quoting someone.” Bao observed. “Your mother. perhaps?”

Rilrae nodded, and looked down to engage in a staring contest with Arslan.

“ _Sushulana_ is coming _here_.” Desiree said with dreamy awe.

“Princess, please!” Brice begged her; “I don’t understand most of this, but I think it would be a bad idea to greet this person with any of your practical jokes.”

Rilrae’s eyes flashed to them. “Oh, I don’t know about that-“

Vala interrupted her. “Rilrae, you are fading! I can barely hear you. Before you go, can I have a ride?”

She was a little taken aback. “I don’t know…” Rilrae looking to me, and Bao, and saw something she had not expected; encouragement. “… why _not_ … ?” Her image collapsed into a sparkling stream of light that streaked back to her Draconic body. The Dragon raised its head and flexed an impressive spread of wings.

Rilrae was not large or strong enough to take two adults up at the same time, and so Breihd and Camlan had an excuse to decline the offer. Vala was so eager that she went first, along with me, of course. Rilrae sat back and shook her head when we first approached, refusing to let us mount. She also made gestures with her fore-claws, clamping them over her shoulders, until Bao snapped his fingers. “It will be cold up there, even on a day like this! I’ll get the coats.”

“I’ll get the saddle and rope.” I would have, but Breihd beat me to it. Once we had everything properly arranged and ourselves bundled up, Rilrae crouched low to allow us to mount her. I used a bit of rope to tie Vala to myself and then me to the saddle, and took a firm grip as Rilrae climbed up the rocky mount that our cave was a part of. The power and suddenness with which she hurled herself into the sky made my daughter and I shriek, and then laugh in delight as the Dragon took to the air.

It may have been a long and arduous process for her to become a Dragon, yet Rilrae had taken to it very well. She seemed more natural, flying with an effortless grace. She had struggled for grace in her human-like body, I had watched her sweating to attain it all the way across Bhodistan. What allowed us to laugh was the way she moved with confidence and skill. Rilrae flew with our enjoyment in mind, showing us a fine view of the place we lived. Even is this wilderness of trees and rocky outcroppings, there was much to see from above. I remembered what Sushulana had done with her map back in Bhaktipur. Sidonie was right, the world made more sense from above, a glimpse of some grand design was revealed to us from up here.

The ride lasted less than an hour, and on the way back Rilrae did something that showed the ropes were not truly needed. It was something that I later learned to call a ‘barrel-roll’, and it was indeed a roll combined with a corkscrew motion. Although we were upside-down at one point, Rilrae’s momentum somehow kept us firmly seated in the saddle. She did that just out of sight of my home, so that she would surprise the others when their turn came. Bao flew with Arslan, and when the returned; “Now I can see why you were both looking like that when you came back, what a ride!”

Desiree was determined to take a ride herself, and to nobody’s surprise, so was Brice. It was not simply his protectiveness that made him climb on that saddle behind the Princess. “If you think I would miss out on something like this, think again!”

For a morning that had started out with such a fright, it had certainly grown into a wonderful day.


	45. Chapter 45

46

 

 

Immediately after Rilrae departed, we discovered Sushulana in our kitchen.

“Dreadful etiquette, I do apologize, but my magics needed a doorway to pass through and I think your horses would have lost their minds if I had materialized in your stable. I’ll be ready in just a moment.” It was difficult to be angry with her, this formidable woman had come to us without any attempt to hide her non-human heritage. There was no illusion or make-up to disguise her features, ever her hair was pinned back and revealing her unusual ears. In more practical terms, this she was hard at work making us a treat of some kind. She had my apron on over her dress and two of my largest pans were filled with something that she had just set alight. “I’ll have this ready in just a moment!”

Bao and I retreated, and we had everyone gather at the same table we had recently shared with Rilrae.

Her bizarre approach worked very well. Sushulana appeared to our children and our guests as a Sidhee woman in the flesh… bearing her offering of Bananas flambé and still wearing a patched old apron. She was wise to do so.

A Dragon is something that this house had fond memories of. Despite having warning, the Sidhee have long been a legendary source of mischief and evil in Alba… if only in myths. The limitations of her version of long-distance travel meant that she would burst upon us somehow, and yet in this manner she was acceptable to the children. Camlan and Briehd were another matter, always glancing at me to assure themselves that all was well.

What she had made for us was certainly a delight in itself. Most of us had never had bananas before, none of us had enjoyed this light and crispy treat that went down as the perfect way to top off a long day in the sun. She had also contrived to retain some of the alcohol in what she had made, instead of letting it all burn away. Just enough drowsiness set in to let us put our children to bed without any fuss, with assurances from our guest that she would not be disappearing any time soon.

And with that, we got down to business.

“I assume that your little performance wasn’t just for our benefit. You are experimenting with ways to make yourself presentable, less frightening, to the people of Terre d’Ange?” Bao asked her.

Sushulana did not take offense, to the surprise of Brice and Briehd… and myself, somewhat. She was the sort of person that looked at the practical implications in what people said first, and for something to be insulted about _last_.

“It is _that_  obvious, yes? Aye, I have that in mind, but mostly I really do want to put you and your house at ease. Lovely place, by the way, it reminds me of one of my own homes.” She glanced around, and then looked back at Bao with a more serious weight to her eyes. “We waited a long time and gave much thought to restoring your memories. Delicate work, but it could have been done from the other side of the world, as indeed it was. We also knew that it might fill you with certain ideas… and I don't mean anything about claiming the agreements that _we do intend_ to honor. No, that wasn’t what made us hesitate. The risk was, that you would go to the City of Elua seeking a redress of our … situation. We…” she bit her lip, just as Rilrae had so often.

“You were not sure that you wanted that?” I asked, carefully. “Are you certain you do, now? The both of you?”

“For ourselves, and moreover, for our children. They have been avoiding Terre d’Ange, out of respect for us. I don’t think they should have to do that any longer. As for Merrin and I, ahh… isn’t it too late for us? What will people think?”

“You, of all people, are worried about that?” This was from Desiree, who was too intensely curious to be drowsy. The tiny bit of Brandy she had ingested might have been the only thing that kept her from bouncing in her seat. “That does not sound like the Sushulana I have read about. Not the one that bares secrets that other people would carry to their graves, to ensure that whatever mission you are on that day goes well.”

“Oh, that’s me, alright, but don’t say that as if it is some small thing. And why else would we have any interest in your Kingdom? It is the people themselves, of course. We carry our faith with us, we have our own history, and we have built fine things of our own. It isn’t even a matter of debts, in either direction. It is people, yours, Princess, and the d’Angeline people of our realm as well.” Sushulana’s large, slant-wise eyes came fully to rest on Desiree. Old eyes, with many complex thoughts behind them, they also showed approval of and respect for the young Princess. “They deserve to get to know each other. And you know, it does not matter if we will it or not. Sooner or later, they will find each other.”

“Distance isn’t keeping people apart the way it used to.” She looked to Bao and I. “All the way to Ch’in and back, and Terra Nova … all without the benefit of any magical travel or the wings of a Dragon.”

I laughed, and Bao explained with a nod to Sushulana; “That is not entirely true. Now that our recollections are freely available to us, I can tell you that Merrin carried us over a mountain range called The Abode of the Gods… saving us weeks and a great deal of effort.”

“Is there a way to explain this briefly to us?” Brice asked.

“Yes, please. This is a book yet unwritten.” Camlan hastened to add. She was out of her depth here, unable to advise me on a subject she knew so very little about.

Sushulana held up her hand to me before I could begin. “I won’t save you the effort of reading our own books, but I will tell you what is relevant.” And in half an hour she had outlined the story of our relationship with her family in a way that even those that had not read the newly revealed books could understand. It was impressive, how she kept her words to a minimum, but Sushulana was no poet. She then turned to Bao and I to ask if we had any questions, before giving anyone else a chance to slow things down.

“Rilrae makes it sound as if she has a great deal of trouble going back and forth between the body we knew and her new Dragon form. That does not make sense to me, she had grown horns and a tail with Shahrukh and her fingernails were becoming claws. What went wrong?”

“Ever the logical one, eh Bao?” That sounded like a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black, to me. “Yes, she was well on her way, but down the wrong path. Shahrukh wanted her to become a Dragon of Rage, and continuing with that transformation would have served her poorly. She had to go _backwards_ , and then start anew. She had a very difficult time of it,” she sighed, “my poor Rilrae. We have yet to find her gift, or what it IS that she is particularly talented in.”

I swallowed hard, and glanced at the Princess to make sure that she would not blurt out anything that I was holding back. Desiree, bless her, understood, and Sushulana did not appear to have noticed anything.

Every family has it’s own peculiarities, after all.

 

Instead of getting into that, Desiree asked; “So where has she gone now?”

“Rilrae is off to see Terra Nova. She has always wanted to, oh… not the part you know, the vast spaces north of where you were.”

I could not believe what I was hearing. “Rilrae is flying across the Ocean?!”

“Oh yes.” Sushulana smiled proudly. “Rilrae is stronger than ever as a Dragon. She can make it all the way by nightfall tomorrow if she does not pause for a swim along the way.”

Bao bit his cheek so that he would not be smiling, not too much; “Would you say that she is _particularly_ strong?”

Sushulana lowered her head and her shoulders twitched with silent laughter. “Ah, good point, sirrah. Very good indeed.” She paused for thought, and then raised her head smiling and with a distant look in her eyes. “You also make my earlier point stand out; people need each other. Where would we be without the free exchange of ideas? Freely spoken advice, accepted or not at the receiver’s will, is much more precious than anything dictated. Trade, too, but that is a matter for another day. This reunion, if it can come to pass, is larger than my desire to walk the streets of Elua’s City openly.”

“Much larger, yes.” They had been right about me, Sushulana and her ‘mate’ as well. I was filled with a resolve to set things aright, a quest that had naught to do with my _diadh-anam_ or the urgings of a handful of Gods. “I am going to see the two of you married in the temple of Naamah if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

“Two… ?” For a moment, she had no idea what I was talking about. “Oh, Rilrae told you… of course. I should have known. It has been so long I…” Half of the people at the table had no idea what we were talking about, so Sushulana quickly explained. “After those 100 years of secret service to the Kingdom, we were to be acknowledged publicly and wed in some sort of grand ceremony. By the end of that century, too much had changed. We knew that nothing of the sort would take place long before that day came and went.”

“The Years of Joy were no so joyful for you, were they?” Desirée asked in a low, soft voice.

“No no, don’t be thinking _that_ , now!” Sushulana shook her head vigorously and reached across the table to take Desiree’s hand. “All we did was give your ancestors an opportunity, and they exploited it beautifully! And we ourselves, it was such a busy time for us, too. Our little realm was growing so fast, our children as well. Heh, despite what you may think, yes, even our little ones have matured more quickly than we were ready for… and in such surprising ways. Our lives have been very full.”

The Sidhee attempted to let go of Desiree’s hand and pull back, she was bent rather sharply over the table to make that reach. However, Desiree caught hold of Sushulana’s hand firmly, and gave it a tug with every word; “Not … _good_  … enough!”

For the first time, I was seeing Jehanne’s daughter asserting herself as a Princess. Not in a tantrum-like display of temper, but with the quiet, firm dignity of a girl determined to do her duty. There was a lump in my throat as I watched her continue.

“This exile is over. When we go south, I want you to come with us. All the way to the Palace, where you will be _my_  guest.” Desiree let go and leaned back into her chair. “I realize that you know the way, but I think it would be better if you come with us. Through the front door, I mean. Our chefs are very particular about who they let into our kitchens.”


	46. Chapter 46

47

 

“Is there something I should know about Desiree?”

Sushulana asked me that the next morning, as she was standing in a puddle of icy water with one foot in her boot and the other one still bare. “Because, if she wants her room back…”

Muffled laugher came from the children’s room as she spoke.

What happened was this; in the middle of the night, Desiree and Vala had risen and put a fine polish on Sushulana’s low-topped boots. It must have taken a considerable amount of time and effort, the shine was impeccable. The boots had been left in a shadowy corner near the front door. Slightly muzzy with sleep and grateful for the nice surprise, Sushulana had stepped straight into the boots. The water that Desiree had filled them with may not have been _ice_ cold, but in the warm summer months it must have felt that way. The spurt that went up her skirt must have been particularly jarring.

It was the odd squelching sound that brought me out of the Kitchen, to find Sushulana as I described. Her head was hung low and her hands were at hip-level with the fingers splayed straight out, and a stain was starting to show on her skirt. She had already figured out what had happened, and was not upset… as far as I could tell. “Well, at least it was just water, instead of something they could have brought in from the stables.”

Brice came along a heartbeat later and was equally quick to decipher what had occurred. He barely missed a step as he pivoted towards the children’s room, bellowing; “Your Highness? I would have words with you!”

“I _said_ it’s just water.” Sushulana muttered, and pulled her foot back out with some little effort. Without the water to put pressure on the leather, the boot promptly collapsed into a shapeless mess.

In their youthful ignorance, the Princess and my Daughter had not realized that leaving the boots filled with water would ruin them. The gales of laughter that greeted Brice reminded me that I had not answered Sushulana’s question. I cleared my throat as I handed a towel to her, and held on to my end of it until she looked me in the eye.

“In over twenty generations of Courcels, Princess Desiree is the one known for having the most outrageous and the most aggressive sense of humor.”

Sushulana’s mouth went wide, and her eyes flickered to the door Brice had just closed behind him. ‘Already? How… she isn’t even thirteen yet! Well, not for another month or so, right?”

My shoulders slumped. “Aye, and that is one of the reasons why there was no opposition to her being in Alba this season.”

“To limit the damage, eh? That seems a bit harsh…”

“Do you really think so? What she just did to your boots reminds of or one of her stunts last year. She found a batch of glue that was nearly as clear as water.” I paused, a memory surfacing of a time I had seen glue of that sort. I shook that out of my mind and continued. “It made her think of ‘how lovely it would look in one of those bowls people dip their fingers into at all the Temples’ … and so -“

Sushulana pressed the heels of both palms to the sides of her head. “She didn’t?! Yea fucking Gods, not Kushiel’s Temple?”

I blinked. “Oh… ah, nooo, not _that_ one.” I wondered why dread Kushiel would occur to the Sidhee first, and what that said about her mind. “Bryony.”

Her hands came down and she clapped them together, delighted. “Of course! Sticky fingers, right?”

“You have the right if it.” I sighed, and this time Sushulana understood my mood.

“You are worried if I will help bring out the worst in her.” She thought a moment, and then dropped the towel on the floor, walking on it as she stepped outside. She gestured for me to follow her, and said; “Growing up without a mother is hard, and she had it worse that I did… never knowing her at _all_ … DAMN! You know, as far as ways of dealing with that goes, I think she chose one of the nicer ones, agreed?”

I nodded, and had to add; “Her public behavior is impeccable, although her jokes are occasionally biting. Mainly, it is what Brice called practical jokes. It has become more and more difficult to trace them to her with certainty, and yet every Fall the undergarments of some well-known Adept are found hanging from the gate of the Palace, and every Spring… random commode bowls start… collapsing.”

“They what?”

“There are many materials that only _look_  like porcelain.”

“In War School we called it hazing.” She stopped when we had reached the first rocky outcropping that hid us from view of the windows. “You would prefer me as some sort of Fairy God-Mother instead of some wild adventurer that comes complete with her own library of deeds. Look at me, please, that’s better. Smile, Moirin, I’m here to be helpful, not the other thing.” Not _Phaing_ , I believe she meant. “It just so happens that I need a new pair of boots, and I have a hankering to see Innisclan with my own eyes. Mind if I borrow one of your horses?”

“But-“

“Will they be upset? Children often are, have you forgotten how many I have had? I shall return in a couple of days, and if they blame themselves for my absence then that is the simple truth if it, isn’t it? There will not be any more practical jokes for a while.” She smiled, eyes going merry. “Yes, tell Desiree that she had her turn. She isn’t to be pulling any more of these jokes of her’s on me until I have had _my_  turn. Does that sound good to you?”

“If you think you are going to Innisclann alone, you are mistaken.” Bao joined us, staff in hand.

“My voice must carry farther than I thought when I use his cockamamie language…”

“Wait… _what_?” I was not about to let the both of them leave, just like that. “You are leaving me to deal with all this? The three of them will be all in a snit until you get back!” The weeping, the grumpiness, the sniffles… and worst of all would be Arslan, who would not understand any of it.

“Beloved wife, how many times have you left them in my care to attend to your Bear-Witch duties, or some matter of State in that Palace?”

If I had felt like it, I would have admitted that there had been many such times. “Don’t you know that it is more than two days to Innisclann and … oh no, you want to take my horses through one of your magical gates?”

“They will be fine, so long as Bao is a skilled and gentle rider. And so will you, Moirin. You have three adults to assist you, and if you want this old mother’s advice … heh, on second thought, maybe not?.”

“You _will_  say goodbye before you go.” and on that point, I would not budge.

They did, from horseback, promising to be back the evening of the next day.

 

Bao and Sushulana were as good as their word. When they returned we had a surprise for them.

For years, we had contemplated damming up a part of the stream to create a pond. We could not do it in the field in front of our home, we would have created a quagmire at our doorstep. Downstream a little ways into the forest, Mabon had pointed out the ideal place, and some of the materials needed had been piled up… and remained in that pile. There had always been so much to do, or a stubbed toe to mend, or some of the Maghuin Dhonn come a’calling.

Truth be told, we also never truly knew why we should do it. There had been no compelling reason for it.

Now there was, and the seven of us had two blissfully uninterrupted days to complete the task. The children took to it with more enthusiasm than I thought they would, and stayed with it in a very unusual display of youthful discipline. Arslan was more help than even his own sister could believe, building dams is a task that any boy takes to as if they are all part Beaver. Vala always kept an eye on the diminishing pile of stone and timbers, always asking if we really had enough, and curious about how anyone could  _know_ if it was enough before we had finished the job. Desiree had never done anything of this sort, but was eager to try. Even when she was standing knee-deep in the muck with a perplexed look on her face, she still radiated confidence that we were all doing the right thing.

It _was_ the right thing. I watched the children, so depressed when Sushulana had left them with her bare feet in the stirrups, gradually work away their guilt and lose their cares in their creation.

The second day was a race against the rising water, all of us splattered with the clay we were pushing into the gaps in the stones. By mid-afternoon Brice was the only one with the wind to talk very much, and he did, recollecting tales of how he labored shoulder to shoulder with Bao and Prime Thierry in the terraced fields of Vilcabamba. Naturally, he had to speak of Quisqu and what I had wrought there, which made me feel more tired that I already was. Yes, I had joined them in the work, we all did at one time or another. Camlan lent a hand, even if she had to spend half her time cleaning herself up and going back to the kitchen to get us something to eat.

She was on one of those errands when we we were just finishing up, and the children had peeled out of their mid-caked clothes to wash up in the pond they had just created. Breihd had gone to carry the last of the timbers to the woodpile and Brice was sitting on the other side of the dam to keep a careful watch on the spillway. This left me to watch over the children, and I was shrugging off my own ruined clothes to joined them when Camlan returned, with Bao and Sushulana coming up behind her.

The Sidhee clapped her hands and gave a little shout, and everyone stopped splashing around. I was close enough to see her eyes sweep the pond with a critical eye, taking in the dam, how the water filled the chosen ground, and the clay-caked clothes left at the shore of the new water. Her hand made a sweeping gesture that started with me and came to rest on on the children. “ _You_ folks did all this?”

“You like it?”

“The grown-ups helped.”

“We did it for you.”

“Yes, is called Sushi’s pond.” Arslan was still having trouble with her name. “Come swimming!”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Sushulana kicked off her boots and shucked the rest of what she was wearing in less than a dozen heartbeats. With a wink to me, she said “Nice work!” and I know she wasn’t talking about the pond itself. Our little domestic crisis had been resolved, and Desiree placed no more pranks that Summer. It felt good, but I had no time to enjoy her praise.

She grabbed me while I was still half-dressed and pulled me right into the water with her.


	47. Chapter 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think now? I wanted to be done by Labor Day, but perhaps the official end of Summer, the 21st of Sept, will be closer to the mark.  
> Once again, I feel like more of a passenger than an Author here, carried along by that madcap Elf ...

48

 

 

We all got along very well after that day.

Sushulana loved playing with the children, which was just a blessing all in itself. Issues arose now and then concerning the Maghuin Dhonn, and Bao had business of his own to attend to, an actual _business_ of his own. Bao was trying to establish the first chocolatl cafe’ in Alba, an effort that had become a trial when the first building he had secured burned down before he could even open for customers. And for myself, I needed a couple of days for myself, meditating and breathing while holding the last few mudras that I could remember, sitting on the rocky ledge that overlooked our sacred lake and the stone doorway.

I needed calm moments like that, after Bao had told me about their visit to Innisclan.

Sister Gemma had traveled there as well, taking a month for herself to see what she could of fabled Alba. She was in Innisclan to meet Aislynn and to peruse the library, and Aislynn had passed along that particular book along to her. To be kind to a friend of the family, she had read it, and had not believed a word of it until Sushulana had shown up, in the flesh and as outlandish as ever.

As soon as she could, Gemma took Bao to one side and told him “The stories are one thing, but if you take those people to the City, Gods! If lightning hit Elua’s Oak and blew it to pieces, it would not cause the consternation that that _they_  will!”

Bao was not so sure. “If you could introduce a Peasant Boy and former criminal as your husband, and survive, I doubt that this will be such a terrible thing.” Then he told me about one of the highlights of her visit to the town itself.

They had been strolling the newly cobbled street, Sushulana smiling and doing her best to put everyone at ease, and not being completely successful at it. Bao was watching out for threats, and was very successful, thank the Great Bear! A scruffy and frightened young man stepped out from behind a building that Sushulana had left a hundred paces behind her, and loosed an arrow from his bow at her back. Bao heard the creak of the bow in plenty of time to turn, and put his staff between the arrow and her spine. The crack I repaired showed that it had been a broad-head arrow fired in deadly earnest.

“Sushulana was furious. She used a spell of some sort to yank him off his feet and drag him across the cobblestone to where we were standing. Don’t worry, she never touched him. However, she did vent a string of curses on him that nobody in Alba has ever heard the like of. It must have gone on for the tenth part of an hour, although it must have seemed longer to the man she directed it at. Poetic, in a way, she ranted about everything from his ancestry and resemblance to things you’d best not hear about, to how she had met lame Donkeys that made better assassins than he did. Half of Innisclan must have been in earshot, and the Magistrate himself paused when he arrived just to hear her out.”

I was rubbing my forehead without realizing it. “A Magistrate? How perfect, what happened then?”

“Sushulana asked only that he hold the bowman for a day, to keep him out of trouble until after we were gone. Oh, and that he give the Bow to someone else ‘ _before this joker manages to hurt someone_ ’. Straightaway, we went to a tavern, and found we could not buy a drink with our own money, people were practically lining up to toast us. Common folk, I mean. She speaks their language, it would seem, and her behavior has nothing in common with the myths of the Sidhee of old. To nine tenths of the people out there, that counts for more than what she looks like.”

Nodding, I admitted that this could be a good thing. I was also wondering how many years I should let pass before I showed my own face at Innisclan again.

We also had Desiree’s 13th birthday to deal with. As I sat and pondered the Lake and the doorway, I knew that we were facing a potential disaster. Her 13th birthday would not be her ‘coming out’ party, but a pre-maturity rite where the Princess would show her face and social skills a few years before she would be ready to avail herself of all the perils and joys of an independent social life.

There were two reasons why this sort of thing would not go over well in Alba.

The idea of such a party was a bit odd to Albans. The hiding and then unmasking of a girl entering upon womanhood was a straightforward matter here, and the introduction of someone into society that wasn’t ready for it yet seemed more like a tease to most folk … and I sympathized with them in that. Precious few Albans had any grasp of the complexities of the d’Angeline Court, and the singular place of the Courcel family in society and history.

What the Albans knew of that history also worked against us. They recalled the brief union of Imriel and Dorelai, and the dreadful results. While the return of Imriel to Sidonie was the stuff of romantic legend in Terre d’Ange, it was seen differently in Alba these days. As far as was known to me, no more Royal inter-marriages had even been contemplated, and marriages between even common citizens of the two lands had become rare over the passing generations.

Desiree’s expectations would surely have been disappointed, were it not for one thing; Sushulana herself.

Word of her existence and the impression she had made on people would surely spread, we all knew that. We all, with the exception of Desiree herself, were afraid that she draw attention away from the Princess at her own party. All of us, without exception, were afraid that her volcanic temper would react poorly to being surrounded by young Alban bucks with brash manners.

“I don’t go anywhere unarmed!” She protested when asked about that.

“Of course you do. According to the stories, you wouldn’t hesitate to fight naked, even if you had to walk across town to get into that fight!”

“Now that is just crazy.” Sushulana rolled here eyes at Bao. “Unless… it was a really _good_  fight.”

 

We needn’t have worried about the effect our ‘Fairy God-Mother” would have on the proceedings. She arrived with us a full three days before the date for the party, and availed herself to any and all curious folk. She gave them all plenty of time to get used to her, and arrived at the Hall were the celebration was to take place a good many hours ahead of the start of the party. All of the youthful admirers who sought a moment of Sushulana’s time were enlisted by her to help with the preparations, and she tolerated no slackers. After this introduction to the schoolmarm side of her personality, Sushulana’s erstwhile admirers were all to eager to make the acquaintance of the Princess. Desiree found them interesting, in a quaint sort of way, but no lasting alliances were made on that otherwise pleasant evening.

The Cruarch had also been eager to meet the Sidhee woman from far away, and might have kept her talking to him for days had she not started out with ‘ “I’ll tell you anything you would like to know, if you don’t mind your life becoming more complicated than it already is.”

The Cruarch kept the meeting short and came straight to Bao and I, leaving Sushulana behind. We verified the outlines of her story and assured him that the complications were vast, but only for the d’Angeline people. This was a great relief to him, events in Terra Nova had complicated his life enough already… but more of that later.

Sushulana also had gifts, and had brought enough for my children as well. For Vala she had an unusual little house, the model of home built on wooden poles and covered with a thatch roof and with walls of woven reeds. Although it could be utterly destroyed by her own carelessness or her little brother’s curiosity, Sushulana showed her how she could rebuild it with ease, and in all sorts of new configurations. Puzzled by it at first, Vala kept it with her for the better part of a decade. For Arslan she had a small collection of marbles, several of which types of stone that had never been seen in this part of the world. It was curious to see natural stone that resembled a desert landscape when polished, and others that had been fitted together to make patterns, some patterns being difficult for us to understand. For Desiree there was a necklace made of links of a peculiar blue-tinged metal, adored with tiny white seashells and a fascinating little multi-hued gemstone.

I mentioned all of this and a good many other things in a letter to King Thierry, and posted it before we left the Cruarch. It was my hope that it would reach the City of Elua in plenty of time for him to be ready for our arrival, as it was also a warning that we would be arriving weeks ahead of our usual date.

Merrin had still not wakened more than a month after Sushulana’s arrival, yet she was not concerned. He would rouse himself when he saw fit, and certainly not before he was certain that he could endure a long season of intrigues.

When we departed for Terre d’Ange, there were normally a few friendly faces to see us off; My mother, naturally, as well as Mabon and Oengus. They all appeared as silently and without fanfare as any denizen of the forest might, all smiles and perfectly casual as children might be who had succeeded at sneaking up on their parents. As always, they had not needed to be told the date of our leave-taking, they always knew. However, on this occasion, their smiles were not as bright, and there was something feigned about their casual attitude.

What is more, they were not alone. Two dozen more of the Maghuin Dhonn were with them, an impressive gathering of our folk. What was more, they were not there to see us off, but to accompany us. We… and more specifically, Sushulana.

“Moirin-mine, you did not see fit to inform me that you had such a guest-“

Something about her oddly formal tone irked me, and in no small way. I cut her off; “Not that you ever seem to need to be informed of such things, Mother.”

Before she could say aught more, Sushulana stepped body forward, her interest piqued. “Ah, so you are the one, Fianche herself! I was hoping to get a chance to see you.” Deliberately or otherwise, she mimicked the curious gaze that the rest of the Maghuin Dhonn had been sending her way. Sushulana came within arm’s reach of my Mother, and Fianche … a hermit for much of her life… put up a hand to guard her personal space. Sushulana’s hand flashed out and wrapped around her wrist, and her other hand gently wrapped Fianche’s fingers around her own wrist. I had seen this before, a Warrior’s handshake. In this way, Sushulana was letting my people know that there was nothing of the healer or mystic about her. She also said; “Of all the new people I have met in Alba, it is my greatest honor to be meeting _you_.”

I have never seen Fianche so utterly bemused. The entire gathering, in fact, was utterly silent for a moment. True to form, it was Mabon that broke that silence. “You are far from what we had expected, Sidhee.”

Sushulana released my mother’s hand and took one step back and threw her arms out wide. “As I have been telling people from one coast of this land to the other, I have no blood-connection to anyone that ever lived on this world in the past. Whatever resemblance I have to these Sidhee must be purely superficial. So…” She looked at them all, each in turn, looking them in the eyes and perhaps a little beyond. “… so…. please don’t be disappointed if I can’t help you.”

“Help us?” Mabon’s jaw dropped, but his mouth was starting to form a smile. “What exactly have you guessed about us already?”

Oengus found his voice next. “Aye, what is it that you think we want from you?”

“Well, that all depends.” Sushulana was smiling too, now. “What **_is_** it that you would like to show me, eh?”


	48. Chapter 48

49

 

 

Sushulana had guessed that it would be an artifact, some relic of the distant past, and she was glad enough to have a look. However, nothing had prepared her for the thing itself, no more than any of the rest of us were.

“Where are we going?” I asked my mother, in what I must admit was a voice best described as ‘peeved’. I had not mastered a commanding manner nor an air of awe such as the way Nemed had about her. Perhaps I never shall, yet the idea that something had been hidden from me after years of doing my best to fill Nemed’s sandals was profoundly irritating. “We are headed due south, so clearly we are not going to Bryn Gorrydum.”

Fianche had recovered her aplomb, and smiled at me. “And you will thank us for not going that way, my child. There is a new port on the southern coast, one that is far more convenient for traveling to your second home. We shall also arrive there much sooner than you think, thanks to another new thing. Moirin, can it really be that you no longer care for travel and seeing new things?”

There was a teasing way to her words, so I returned it in kind; “If you will pardon me, my own folk are the last people in the world I would expect to be interested in anything new.”

“Ah, well… there are things that are so old that they can’t help but become new again.” She glanced over at Sushulana, and then back at me.

“How much do you really know about her?”

“Nothing certain, and _that_  is the best reason for why we are doing this.”

She would not elaborate further, and nobody I have ever met is better than keeping quiet about something important than my mother.

The children were just as thrilled by the mystery of it all as Sushulana was, Bao gave a philosophical shrug and sauntered along at my side with his staff thumping the turf, but Brice was a bundle of raw nerves. The rest of the Queen’s guards were expecting to meet him and Princess halfway to Bryn Gorrydum. He had been a heartbeat away from taking Desiree in that direction. One thing that stopped him was Sister Gemma returning to us, guided by the very Maghuin Dhonn that worried him so. There was also the Princess, who though that a cross-country romp would be a fine way to wrap up her visit to Alba. Brice sent off a message to the Guardsmen to meet us at the southern port, a highly irregular thing to do. Much of Desiree’s travels in Alba had been unusual by Royal standards, guided by King Thierry’s admonition seven years past to treat my people with ‘honor and respect’.

My people put that to the test, leaving the trails and striking out overland and through the forest for over a day. It was nothing to us, this was _our_  forest, after all. To the others it must have been eerie and perhaps even frightening. I spent as much time as I could with Desiree and Sister Gemma, and kept a careful watch on Brice lest his memories of the Jungles of Terra Nova come upon him too strongly. Sushulana spent most of that first day and the following nights explaining herself to the Maghuin Dhonn walking nearest her, and was often distracted by the sights and sounds around her.

“She is curious, isn’t she?” My mother asked me at the campfire that evening.

I knew very well just what a curious and strange being Sushulana was, yet I asked coyly; “About what?”

“About this forest.” she answered me, unexpectedly. “It is as if she is not familiar with wilderness itself.”

I sighed. “I call her Sidhee myself, but that clearly isn’t what she is. She does not stumble around like someone bred to the city, and yet she is nowhere as seasoned to life in the woods as we are.” I winked. “The first of the myths to die, yes?”

“About the Sidhee, or about her?”

“About her connection to anything we thought we were familiar with!” I felt my exasperation returning. “Which is just as we have been trying to explain to you all along. What exactly do you mean by dragging us out here? Don’t you know how much trust the Crown has granted us, and how this must look to my guests? They are surrounded-“

“They can turn back and follow their steps home any time they choose to. None of us are walking _behind_ them, and you have all the horses.” Fianche was referring to how everyone had fanned out ahead my little group of my immediate family and friends. Rather than walk single-file in a place there was no reason to do so, the Maghuin Dhonn were walking in little groups of twos and threes in a cresent-shape formation… if it could be said to have a shape at all. In more military terms, they were blazing the trail and covering our flanks at the same time.

“ _They_ can? And what of her?” I nodded towards Sushulana at another fire, regaling my people with a tale of something dramatic. “The reputation of our people is a good one, at long last, but do you think it will withstand another such episode as with Prince Imriel?”

“Ahh… is that what troubles you?” Instead of flinching away, Fianche leaned in and put a hand on my shoulder. “No, no… we are not testing your friend, nor are we plotting to do something with or even _about_ her. We told you true; something has us worried, and we need her opinion about it. She is a Mage of some sort, is she not?”

Hearing that, at last, lifted my mood considerably. “You found something? Gods, Mother, could you not have brought it to her, instead of the other way round?”

“No more than you could bring your cave with you to the City of Elua.”

 

A little before mid-morning the next day, we were shown the start of our road south. By road, I do not mean a rutted dirt path or any verdant stretch of _taisgaidh_ land. This was a road of stone blocks that might have been a primary street in any of the grandest cities I had visited… or could have been, if any of those cities used paving stones the size of a dinner table. The road ran very straight, and avoided changes in elevation wherever possible.

Sushulana surveyed the scene and dismounted to put a hand to one of the stones. “Old… very old. Tiberian?”

Bao looked as if he did not know if he wanted to laugh or shout. “This is something new?”

“This’ll be getting us all the way down south much quicker than ye’ keen, young mater Bao.” Mabon stepped on the pavement as if testing it, and liking what he found. “As we told ye’, this is something old made new again. Alba is changing, this road has been cleaned up and repaired where it needed it. Follow it all the way, and we will be at the southern coast in six days.”

“Six days?” Sushulana asked, closing one eye and squinting at Mabon with the other. “If there is a place on this whole island that is more than three days walk from the coast, it must be deep underground. What exactly is it that you want me to see so badly that we would go so far our of the way for?”

“We… we can’t say. Nay lass, its not that we don’t want to, it is simple that we don’t have the words. The words we do have may give you the wrong idea before you see it yourself.”

“Fair enough.” And although she was as curious as my people had hoped, she did not press the matter further for the next four days.

I also refrained from asking, my greatest concern was the fact that I was leading the largest group of Maghuin Dhonn to leave our territory in centuries. Two dozen is not much of a hoard, by any other standards, yet this accounted for one in every four of us. It was sure to be noticed, and when I mentioned my concern to my mother, she only said; “Count again.”

As if it would have been easy to do while we were still in the woods…

Once we were all on road, I did count, and found that nearly half of them had melted away when I was not looking. More drifted away during that day, and I arched an eyebrow at Fianche.

“Mostly, they wanted to see your Sidhee, and this lovely little pearl of a Princess you have taken under your protection.” It was true, at every turn there had been one or two of my people near Desiree’s side. I had assumed they were there to prevent her from getting lost, and were taking turns at the task. They had also been answering her questions, pointing out interesting plants and animals, and doing somewhat more than keeping her entertained. They were curious about her, I suddenly realized. This was a bit of a shock to me, curiosity about the outside world is not something the Maghuin Dhonn are famous for. I should have known better, dire threats from the outside world are not the only thing that motivates us to take an interest in other people. The journey that the Great Bear herself had sent me on had been of no direct benefit to our people…

That thought made me glance at Sushulana, and Bao, and my children. No _direct_ benefit? Ah, time would tell on that score.

I sighed, and smiled. “If they were so eager to meet the Princess, why didn’t they say so?”

“When have you ever known us to be so direct? Moirin, were it not for you being here with us, most of the people here would not have the courage to leave our lands, let alone go so far down this road.”

“Me?”

“You.” My beloved mother smiled at me in a way that made me want to reach over and give her ear a good twist.

“I am hardly leading this expedition! You-“

“Never the less, here you are. The one among us that ever left this land and returned. Who would dare to go so far from home without you?”

“Which neatly brings us to my next question. Who among us _did_  travel three more days down this very road? Who was it that found whatever this is… who verified this mystery with their own eyes?”

Fianche kept marching along, eyes fixed on some point far ahead, and still smiling. “Can’t you guess?”

“Maban, Oengus?”

“And one other.”

I stopped, and grabbed my mother’s arm to make her stop also. “You?”

It was a crazy idea, Fianche was one of the most reclusive of all our folk. And yet the flash of an image came to my mind, of her walking this very road, told me it was all too real.

“So, you see the truth of things! How wonderfully you continue to grow! Yes, I went with them, no doubt inspired by my own daughter’s travels. Moirin … can you see aught of what we found?”

I tried, and shook my head at her. There was no point in asking if it was dangerous, not with Fianche’s own grandchildren coming with us.

“Ah, well, I did not think you would be able to.” And with that cryptic comment, she went on ahead to take a turn at the head of the group.

 

When we saw our goal, we were still an hour’s walk away.

“A forest fire cleared the way. These fields have been isolated for a long time.” Mabon explained. “Renovating the roads came after, and now… this place has become known.” The ground was open for leagues before us, grass trimmed short by cattle that gave it a pastoral feel. I could see Barrows everywhere, bell shaped ones as well as broader ones that almost looked like small hills rather than the man-made earthen mounds I knew them to be. There were also henges, earthen walls surrounding empty plots of ground, and there were also standing stones. I was familiar with all of these things, but not the centerpiece of it all.

Thanks to the presence of the Cows, we could tell that we were looking at something huge, even from a distance. It was a cluster of them, and many of them had lintels, horizontal stones that transformed them into something very like the stone doorway I had passed through and into the presence of the Great Bear herself. I looked over to meet Bao’s eyes, and we heard Sushulana gasp.

“Gates?” Sushulana said, finding the use of the plural form difficult, and incredible.

“You mean, like the kind you have used?” I asked, remembering the stories about her. “The kind you have… made?”

She nodded as she vaulted into the saddle of the horse she had been using. “Hold back, you’d best let me have a look first.” She kicked her mount into a gallop, heading straight for the strange clump of stones.

She had not asked a single one of us to accompany her.


	49. Chapter 49

50

 

 

Brice physically blocked Desiree from following Sushulana, and there was no possibility that I would leave Vala and Arslan at a time like this. None of the Maghuin Dhonn were mounted, nor had any of them sat on a horse at any point in our little journey. So it fell to... “Bao?”

“Aye.” Among the many skills he had learned in his lifetime was how to handle horses. While we followed at a trot, Bao mounted and took off after Sushulana at a dead run, trying to catch up with her before she charged into the middle of the strange stones. We needn’t have worried about that; before Bao caught up to her, Sushulana had slowed down and begun to circle around the monument. There was a low earthen berm around it, and she would not cross it until she had seen the site from all directions. Bao rode Tatar-style, of course. He had the same economy of motion and perfect balance that characterized everything else he did. People who watch him, truly paying attention, are struck with a certain sense of awe, some of them attempt to imitate him. I am very proud to say that our children are both following his example, and doing a beautiful job of it.

Sushulana was something else entirely. She somehow timed her movements in sympathy with that of the horse, so that instead of simply avoiding being jostled by it, she seemed to be a living extension of the horse itself. She hardly used the reins, and yet kept full control of her mount’s movements even when she was leaning out horizontally from the saddle.

“She not like us, is she?” Vala asked as we approached.

“Like enough.” Desiree quickly answered a question meant for me. “She is checking for danger, by putting herself in its way.”

We were within shouting distance by the time Sushulana and Bao had made two circuits around the stones. Neither seemed alarmed, and yet they had not crossed over the berm yet. Bao had dismounted and his horse had taken to grazing immediately, another good sign. Sushulana had her horse standing on top of the berm, and she was standing on the saddle, still peering at the stones. She said something to Bao, pointing at various things, and he was obliged to climb the berm to see what she was talking about. Sushulana did not turn around as we joined them, she crouched in the saddle, and stayed that way as her horse descended the far side.

From up close we could see just how large the stones were. Utterly massive, some of them must have weighted 50 tons apiece. The smaller doorways that some of them formed were twice the height of the tallest man I have ever seen, the larger ones were more than triple a man’s height… and yet too narrow for one to pass through. Only half a dozen cross-pieces remained atop any of the standing stones. Some of the stones were no longer standing, and a couple were leaning as if they would not be standing for very much longer. Others were remarkably upright, perfectly vertical as if they would be so for as long as people continued to walk this Earth.

I dismounted to stand by Bao as we watched Sushulana prowling about. She touched one of the stones, and let her hand drop with a sigh. “Whatever this place was, it _isn't_  … not any more.” She shook her head, still peering at various stones. “Come on in. Its safe.”

“One could assume that, from all the grazing and what the birds have left on the stones themselves.” Brice commented dryly. For his own part, he seemed disappointed that our journey had led to this place. “What were you so intent on examining this place for?”

Sushulana spun her horse around and rode it straight at my mother, stopping just short of running her down. She made no other moves, heedless of my strangled shout and the other Maghuin Dhonn ranged about us, she just glared down at Fianche, and Mabon & Oengus as well as she growled in a low voice. “Y’a know, if I was as vengeful and wrathy as people say, you ’n I would have a serious problem right about now.”

“What are you _doing_?” I found enough voice to throw articulate words at the mad Elf. Everyone else seemed too shocked to do anything, save for Bao. He had his staff in both hands and was taking one slow, deliberate step after another towards Sushulana. She had not cast a spell or reached for a weapon, but her hand was very close to the hilt of her scimitar.

She ignored him, and still staring at my mother, she said to me; “Try something, Moirin, try calling the Twilight or try to _see_  something about this place. Tell me what happens.”

Try? That was a strange way to put it. The only time that I could not drawn at least a sparkle of energy to me was when I was in the Patriarch of Riva’s chains.

Now I discovered that it could not be done here, as well. I made another involuntary noise, and Bao turned back towards me with one hand over his chest. Our _diadh-anam_ both still burned, but in a very subdued way. They felt distant, inhibited somehow. “Is this how it was in Riva?” Bao gasped.

“No, worse, I was completely cut off.” Staring at the stones, I touched the ground, and did my best to see into the truth of this place. It was less of a shock to discover that I could not. If anything was revealed, it was nothingness, a lack of something too profound to grasp at the moment.

I looked back to the confrontation between Sushulana and Fianche, and I understood the Sidhee… the _Elf_ , and the reason for her outrage. I stepped up beside her horse, facing my mother.

“They don’t know your story, they don’t know why this looks so bad.” I said to Sushulana.

“Yeah, I know it. Maybe they wanted to see if I would turn into a Troll without some sort of Glamour spells working here. Still… I’m supposed to be some sort of a wild Bull in a hall of mirrors when it comes to diplomacy, Moirin. Your people make me look like a fucking genius by comparison.” She tore her eyes away from my mother and looked at me, her manner going from angry to depressed in the blink of an eye. “The fact that every single one of them is carrying a bow ain’t exactly reassuring.” She sighed, and switched to d’Angeline. “Mayhap you can explain it to them?” She then dismounted by rolling backwards off the rump of her horse, and called out in the same language. “Brice, Desiree, Gemma! Lets have a closer look. For the rest of these folk this place is not… friendly, so it falls to us to see what’s what.”

I nodded to them when Sister Gemma looked as if she were ready to hold them back. “It is alright. This place is only unhealthy to people who depend on magic.” Desiree immediately went to Sushulana’s side, protective of her new friend, and the others were drawn along with her. I watched them for a moment, going deeper into a place where any Maghuin Dhonn would have been cut off from our precious connection to our very nature. The little Elf woman plunged into the maze as an eager hound would, with naught but her eyes and fingertips to explore the mystery.

She knew I had lost my magic, and the only possible way she would have known was because she had lost her own.

Oengus started to speak when I turned back to face my people. “What is the-“

I snapped my fingers and held up a flat palm, my arm at full extension towards him. Looking at the ground, I held that pose for a moment as I gathered my thoughts and clamped down on my own anger.

“If you would rather, I can talk to them.” Bao offered.

The anger left me, and I smiled as I looked his way out of the corner of my eye. “No, love. I must do this. Would you please take the children on a walk around the berm? There may be something worth finding, somewhere.”

Once they were gone, I raised my head to look upon a double handful of people staring at me with wary eyes. My mother was as defiant as ever, and that triggered something inside me, something strong. “Look at Sushulana. Not even four stone to her, nor any armor. She has been in more peril, more battles and has had more enemies than all of us put together. Some damn fool tired to KILL her at Innisclan, and you took her here? Her spells are her best protection, and you brought her to a place where her wits and her blades are her only defense… and surrounded by your bows?!”

“None are strung.” Mabon said, an unusually tentative tone in his voice.

“Aye! That and the presence of my children are why she didn’t just keep riding away, or circle around to rain Lighting down on us. Oh _Gods_ , you have no idea what you are dealing with!”

“And how else were we to find out?” Fianche challenged me.

That was a mistake.

“You have had nearly a week to _talk_  to her. You could have asked me, or anyone that has read the books.” My voice was rising, and I paused to settle myself down a little. Mabon shook his head and was about to say something more, I stopped him before he could begin by clapping my hands together so hard that they stung for hours, and held them together in a mudra that I had seen the Rani use to confront the Black Diamond. “You assumed that it could all be a trick, I know. And now, Sushulana knows it too. How clever, how brilliant! How… ignorant.” At last, they looked crestfallen, my mother included. “That is our downfall, always in the past it has been like this. We have this desire to avert some terrible future, we reach out into a world we shun to put it to right, even if we don’t _know_  enough about that world to begin with! Do you know the real tragedy of what Berlick did? It wasn’t necessary in the first place! That unborn madman in the vision was reacting to an invasion of the Tatar Horde, an invasion that was stopped cold because _that_  woman and the Dragon she is mated to saw it coming and organized the armies of a dozen Kingdoms to meet them. Saw it, they did not rely on visions, they went out and confirmed shadowy visions with their own eyes. No matter the danger, they don’t just lurk in their haven, they go out into the world and learn from it.” I gestured at Sushulana, doing at that moment the very thing I spoke of.

An idea began to form in my head.

“We have insulted your guest, and angered you.” My mother sounded contrite, at long last. “I am so sorry, but we have not your experiences to guide us. Is there another penance in our future?”

“No, wait.” The pieces came together in my mind, and I smiled. “There is a solution to this, it is up to you if you take it as a penance or not. I am taking you with me to Terre d’Ange.”

 

The stricken looks made me have second thoughts about that. I had no real authority to make any of them do as I said, not in matters such as this. Fianche, my mother, I would dearly have loved to take her with me … if I did not recall clearly just how frightening and disorienting my first weeks in Terre d’Ange had been. For her, it could have been traumatic, or worse. And if I insisted, it _would_  be worse.

I broke eye contact to look behind me, Bao had Arslan on his back and he was trying to keep up with Vala, now halfway around the outside of the berm. I also saw Sister Gemma climbing the tallest stone. I started to turn back, but then I looked again. _Gemma_? Born a country girl in a rough wilderness, she had not forgotten how to climb. A rope had been thrown over the crosspiece with the far end held by Brice. Desiree and Sushulana were also on the ground, steadying the end Gemma was using. Would that I could have taken a longer look at the scene, it was even more delightful that it was peculiar, but there was something I needed to finish before any objections could be made, and before my children were back within earshot.

“Half of you are coming with us to the City of Elua. Decide among yourselves who it will be.”

“You can’t-“

“I _DID_. I was out there for seven years! Don’t some of you think you can survive it for six months?” While it was true that I could not order them to do anything like this, I knew enough about them that I would not have to. “Many of you have been discussing my journey ever since I returned, some of you still have questions about it whenever I am in reach. A few of you have thought of going out yourself, but that’s all you ever do about it! Enough thinking over the same things again and again, enough speculation, enough with all the guesswork. Most of all, enough with our ignorance.” I jerked a thumb over my shoulder at the d’Angeline people poking around the ruins. “You know what really sets that Elf apart from us? She refuses to allow problems to define her limits, she goes out and meets them head-on and _solves_  those problems. I suggest that it is high time we do the same thing. Who knows… maybe we don’t have to resign ourselves to settling for decline and eventual oblivion.”

Turning sharply on my heel, I walked over to meet Bao and the children. First, I crossed over to the outside of the berm, and immediately felt much better. I did not now if I could do anything, but my _diadh-anam_ was much restored. Once we were all together again, we watched the d’Angeline folk finishing their inspection of the stones. They were taking longer at it that I thought they would, with Desiree and Sushulana constantly in motion and calling back and forth to Gemma. Brice was pacing off the distances between standing stones with military precision, until Gemma called for him to hold the rope so that she could descend.

Bao nodded to the group of Maghuin Dhonn I had left behind me, all ten of them huddled together and having such a lively discussion that Mabon and Oengus broke off for a moment to wrestle each other, presumably to resolve a dispute. “You seem to have made an impression on them.”

“I told them that half of them are coming with us.”

“Oh?” Bao and Arslan asked at the same time. Arslan was more pleasantly surprised than Bao.

Vala clapped her hands together gleefully. “Finally! There is so much happening this year, and Gemma won’t be with Princess Desiree much longer anyway.”

“What?” This was news to me.

“Well… I wasn’t supposed to say,” my daughter dragged her right foot around in small circles in the dirt, “but she is getting married, and Desi does not need a nurse anymore.”

“Yes, of course, but…” But what? This had been a long time coming, and Gemma should have a life of her own while she was still young enough, but to get married she must know someone, and I had no idea who that might be. Had I seemed disinterested. had I been mis-spending my time in Elua’s city?

I was still musing on that idea when they returned to us, Sushulana coming last and looking over her shoulder often. The Maghuin Dhonn all drifted closer, they had made their minds up, but everyone wanted to hear about what had been discovered about this place before saying anything. The Elf paused at the top of the waist-high berm, still looking back until I asked; “So, what have you found?”

She turned back to me, eyes wide with wonder, her earlier response to this place forgotten.

“Its just … _WOW_.”


	50. Chapter 50

51

 

 

“Wow?”

“Yes… wow …. as in, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

That was an interesting thing to hear, coming from her. “Then, it isn’t a gate?”

“Yes! No… I mean, its about a score of them, with infinite possibilities. Or, rather, it _was_.” She glanced at my people. “I don’t actually have to explain the whole concept of gates to everyone, do I?”

“We have all passed through one.”

“Really?” her gaze swept over the Maghuin Dhonn. “Well well, ain't this place just full of surprises.”

“I am relieved that you never took them there to see it, even more so that you never told them of it.” My mother said, pitching her voice so that only I could hear it… or so she thought at the time.

“Well, you are going to have to tell me now, aren’t you?” Sushulana gave my mother a look that told us all that she didn’t like her very much. “Limit what you say to what is directly related to this place right here. I have a lot to tell you and I need to know what you know about this kind of thing before I start.”

I hesitated before answering her. “The place is sacred to us, it is only traversed by my people. All I can say is that it is there is a large cavern inside the mountain I live in, part of it leads to a secret valley at a lake. There is a gate, similar to the smaller ones over there. I won’t say where it leads-“

“It is functional, then? It still takes you somewhere else, and back?”

“Yes.”

“I _knew_ it.” Desiree said in a low, breathless tone, nearly distracting me from everything Sushulana was saying.

“”Does it look exactly like one of those?”

I looked again, without glancing at Bao or any of the muttering folk gathered around. “No, not exactly. It is more regular, all of these stones seem unfinished, or damaged somehow.”

Sushulana coughed out an ironic, humorless chuckle. “Oh, damaged it is, like you would not believe. I’m having trouble believing it myself.” She stood sideways and gestured at the ruins. “What we are looking at is a complex of gates, something that I had never thought possible and… as it turns out, I don’t think that it worked.” Her voice had an awed quality to it, and something more; the Elf felt as if she was out of her depth just speaking of this, perhaps.

Sister Gemma was trying to follow this, and failing. She raised her hand as if she were in a classroom. “I don’t understand. What sort of Gates re you talking about?”

“I am talking about the sort of gate that allows instant transit between distant places. I have made several, one of which is in the foundation of the Temple that you and Moirin’s Father have been spending so much time in.”

Gemma gasped. “The lost-“

“ _Later_ , please! This is a lot to process, and I am having trouble with it myself. Alright, now… North is there,” she pointed to true north with just a glance at the sky, and surprising surety. “and East is there, and…” her other arm pointed east, and then swung halfway back to the other arm, “ _That_ is where the Sun rises on the longest day of the year, mis-summer. See, that raised path and the marker stone verify it. In one way, this is a sundial and a calendar. So, why add all this extravagant and massive stonework to something like that?”

“I would have guessed at some sort of roof, but you can’t put a roof over a sundial, can you?” Bao squinted at the arrow-straight path that we had paid little attention to until now. “You used a normal doorway at the Rani’s palace as a ‘gate’, how hard can it be to make more if you know how to use something as common as that?”

“They work best if they are made of something as native to the location as possible. But, these are two different kinds of stone! See, the smaller ones that are not part of the gates themselves, they are not exactly the same kind. They are a sort of green-gray, or maybe a reddish gray depending on how the light hits them. The big fellas are more of a tawny hue, maybe… hard to tell with all the lichen and other crud growing on them.”

“If you say so…”

“Right, so the gates here were made in a circular pattern because going back and forth between two known points was not good enough for these people. They wanted a _system_  of gates that could take them to an unlimited number of places … and back again, one would hope.” Arms dangling at her sides, she looked at the ruins again, and shook her head. Sushulana started speaking again with a hushed voice until she remembered that the rest of us were still there. “In order to do that, you have to either put all of this on some kind of huge spinning table, clearly impossible, or you remember that it _is_  on a spinning surface. The world itself spins, so what you do is link it to the great void, somehow, and let the world do the turning for you. With your built-in calendar, you know how the world it angled in relation to the rest of the universe. And then, you simply engage them as you see fit. I don’t know how they could have known where they were going, maybe they planned to bring gate-building materials with them to create a way home. _GOD_ s… whatever the plan, it was incredibly ambitious.”

“How could they have even attempted something like that?” I was following her reasoning better than anyone else present, yet how she had arrived at all this was a mystery to me.

“It wasn’t easy, this was probably the work of generations. Over and over again, they were trying new combinations and different arrangements. Look over there, that gray-green stone standing by itself? It wasn’t meant to, that is a tongue running all the way down the side, meant to fit into a groove in another stone.”

“What, you mean like two pieces of wood?” Brice asked, one of the few of us that knew something of how buildings were made.

“Yes, exactly. Gemma saw mortises on top of the columns, another carpenter’s trick. But what really gave it away for me was the mammoth stones in the center. Those were meant to contain, and _also_ channel energy passing through them. That is the heart of this thing, an anchor to the void. See how they are too close together to allow a person to pass through easily? I think they were originally made with even tighter gaps. Energy was meant to pass through them, not people, so them made them narrow like that to make them idiot-proof.”

My children giggled at that phrase, but Desiree nodded, understanding what Sushulana was speaking of better than I was. “So, there was a full circle of stone gates all the way around, instead of just the few we see here, and all of them would take you to different places at different times of the year. What happened?” She waved her arms at the empty spaces where only a few broken stones were left. Too few stones by half, to account for all the gates she had conjectured. “What happened to them all?”

“A catastrophe. Now, like I said, they made those gaps in the big ones small to keep people out of them, and they had to do that because the energy would be invisible. In fact, most human beings would consider such energy to be intangible in every way that matters to them. So, how would they be able to detect a sudden surge, or a recoil caused by a gate failing to open? My guess is that they could _not_ , not in time, and the results are as you see. Whole sections were consumed, and some of the remaining stones had parts of their surfaces scooped away. Few of the stones fell over… and most of those fell because they had become overbalanced, or the natural result of five thousand years of neglect.”

“What about the people?” Gemma asked a question that I would rather not have heard the answer to, even before it was given.

“Vaporized, and it would have been instantaneous for any soft matter, given the beating these stones took.” Sushulana stroked her lips with one finger and asked; “Are there any other sites like this one on this island?”

Shaking my head and looking to Fianche and Mabon to be sure of it, I said “No, not as far as it known… by us. Why, do you think there may be more?”

“No, I doubt that very much, for two reasons. Firstly, this disaster would have happened when this thing was in use, likely the first time it was triggered in a serious way. In that case, nearly everyone involved in the project would have been here to see it. This includes the ones that knew all the technical details, the ones that had been pushing to make this expensive creation happen, all the ones that had put their reputation behind the artisans and mystics.” She gave a wry smile to Bao and I. “The problem with many human societies is that they hoard secrets, everyone jealously guarding knowledge of their trade to make themselves more valuable. So, when something like this happens, not only did it consume everyone responsible, it also claimed everyone capable of understanding what went wrong.” She crouched and picked a pebble out of the turf. “A people who don’t practice the free exchange of ideas risk losing so much, don’t they? A few key people vanish, and they are left with nothing.” She tossed the pebble at the standing stones before facing us again. “And secondly, this is now a place that is dead, as far as ethereal energy is concerned. It will probably remain so for all time. Oh… don’t look like that! This could still be useful. Say, if you are being pursued by a Demon of some sort, or if you need to hide from a master of the art of scrying. This would be the ideal place to shake them off.”

“Or, someone like you?” Mabon ventured.

“Or someone like _you_.” Sushulana turned her smile to fully ironic. She shook the eerie fascination this place had placed in her and walked down the berm again, her lesson over. “Not such a dreadful thing after all, you see? Everything has its useful side, you just have to have to let yourself see it. Have a little more faith in the Gods. They have done pretty well for us so far, don’t you think?”

 

Mabon would be coming with us, it had been decided by the wrestling match. I was a little surprised to learn that the _winner_  of the contest would be coming, rather than staying behind. My mother, naturally, would not be. This was awkward in a way, as Fianche was now too old to winter by herself in her cave, and too young to think it seemly to move in with Bao and I. Oengus would stay with her, but first he would carry word to the Cruach of what we had seen her, and Sushulana’s interpretation of it. In ages past, the Maghuin Dhonn would have kept the secret of this place to themselves. In this age, things are different, and Sushulana had driven the point home.'“Now, ye used a good many 'I think' and 'possibly' words just now. D’ye allow me to pass on to the Cruarch that you may be wrong about what ye said?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” She gave him a curious look, and then smiled. “My pride? I think the lesson that this place offers is a good one regarding pride, yes? Sure, this may just be a place of shadow where nothing people would call ‘magic’ can exist, and maybe people built a monument to it, or a place of shelter against something they feared. What I told you was merely the best interpretation I could on what evidence remains. Ahh… if only Hyacinth was still with us!”

That reminded me of something from Merrin’s book. “Do you really count him as having been mightier than you?”

“Of course I do, whole seas would respond to his command. All I can do is fu-“ she cut herself off, and glanced at the children out of the corner of her eye. “… you know… fight things, and bust ‘em up.”

“The fact that you can make Gates that work would say otherwise.”

Her reaction was a shrug, combined with a smile and a look that had a shy and grateful quality to it, for just an instant. I was braced for a rough denial, or for my comment to be ignored. This was interesting, and when I mentioned it to Bao he thought it over before commenting. “Mayhap we are seeing Merrin’s influence on her.” That made me think of Lo-Feng’s influence on Bao, and thanks to our bond, Bao understood my thoughts immediately. “I have been wondering why she seems so youthful when she has lived many times as long as Master Lo-Feng. Sushulana does not resist time with the rigidity of the stones we are leaving behind. She adapts, and even if she can never forget past horrors that forged her, she leaves them behind the way we are leaving this place behind us.”

He made me think of our old Master again, and _how_ he was with us. “Bao, did Lo-Feng ever seem … _lonely_ … to you?”

His brow furrowed. “Moirin, I honestly don’t know. All those years with him, and I never saw so deeply into him to know. It never even occurred to me to wonder about that, so I suppose he wasn't.  Why do you ask about….” Bao stopped himself suddenly and glanced at Sushulana, who had re-mounted and was making one last transit of the standing stones. “Oh, I see.”


	51. Chapter 51

52

 

 

Leaving from a port closer to Terre d’Ange saved us no time, we still had to make our way to the same landing we had planned in Azzalle. A Princess does not simply return home unannounced at an unexpected place. We spent several days instead of just one shipboard. 

We caught a glimpse of The Sisters as our ship fought the current eastwards into the channel. Desiree recalled and recited their importance in history for us, we all could see that wanted to go ashore to have a look for herself. She did not ask, the Princess knew there would be no more sightseeing on this trip. After we boarded the ship, Sushulana went into a trance for a few heartbeats, and then stared off into the distance, smiling southwards.

“That was Merrin. He will be joining us shortly… ahh, _hmmm_ , you may want to sit down for this.” She continued when she had myself Bao and Mabon seated around the table where he ship’s officers took their meals. “My mate has been awake for a few days now, and he has been in the City of Elua.”

“Preparing the way for us?” Bao asked with a knowing smile.

“Yes, but perhaps not in the way you are thinking.” Sushulana bit her lip and looked down at the table. “He has been distributing copies of our books. Just a few dozen… what?” She looked up as Bao fell back in his seat, staring at her as if she had spat on the table. The smile was gone, he hadn’t known as much as he had thought he did.

  
I leaned forward, and asked; “Distributed? To who? And _why_?”

Sushulana closed her eyes, and Mabon took the opportunity to ask; “Are these the same sort of books that the Princess ‘found’, and passed on to my niece, who passed them on to Innisclan?”

“Yes, identical copies, every one of them matches the original manuscript-“

Bao rapped the table sharply and pointed to me, reminding Sushulana to answer my questions.

“Several copies went to the Palace, a couple are at Elua’s temple, and some went to Booksellers mixed in with expected shipments. The rest went to the Academy or to random thoughtful folks who are hungry for something new to delve into.”

I leaned heavily on my elbows. “So, there will be a controversy already underway when we arrive there. People will be split between believing it and denying that such a thing was ever possible. The deniers will be proven wrong by your very existence, and if they are the proud sort, you will have made them enemies before you are even presented to the King and the court.”

Sushulana smiled in a way that showed a few teeth. “Look at it this way; we will know who our enemies are before we even get started. and we will also be saved days worth of sitting around talking until our tongues dry up.”

“For YOU, maybe.” Bao sounded as unhappy as I felt. “At a stroke, you have deprived us of the ability to handle this our way. We can’t break this gently or at our own pace to those in power now, and any strategy we come up with will have to be on the fly, _reacting_ instead of acting first. You are taking a lot for granted, too, as far as our support for you goes.” That was a bit much for me, and Bao continued in a somewhat less heated way. “This takes me by surprise only because it wasn’t you doing it, but Merrin. He is the one that is supposed to be the cool, calculating one that knows how to be more diplomatic. What was _he_  thinking?”

“Ask him yourself, he will be there to welcome us when we hit dirt-side. I mean, when we make landfall.” She turned to Mabon. “I assume that your knowledge of the d’Angeline language is ... limited?”

“Aye.”

Sushulana worked a ring off one of her fingers. “This is extremely valuable, it can’t be replaced.” She ceased speaking and deftly slipped it onto one of Mabon’s fingers before he could pull back. She switched to d’Angeline when she resumed speaking. “I never learned Alban, this ring is what was allowing me to converse with you. All you need to do is concentrate on what you want to speak, and those around you will be able to understand in the language you want to speak. It works both ways, but it can be tricky… and a bit crude when it comes to the nuances.” She spoke slowly and softly. “Are you understanding what I am saying?”

Mabon shook his head and then rubbed his forehead. “Yes, but tis’ a strange feeling. It is like having someone whispering into your ear, from inside your own head!”

I took Mabon’s hand in my own, and stared at the ring. “This is the same ring you have worn for… how many centuries?”

“It is a crutch I used to rely on far too much, it has been in storage for most of the last century. Look, the more I try to explain, the worse I am probably going to make this. We are doing the best we can to make this easier for you, and make it easier for everyone else to believe in us. Like I said, Merrin will be meeting us soon.”

 

And so he did.

When we docked, the Princess would of course be the first one ashore. Dressed in the sort of gown she had not worn since her arrival in Alba, she would descend a brand-new gangplank of polished rosewood as the honor guard on both the ship and the dock snapped to attention, and a band struck up a welcoming anthem created just for this event. And so she did, smiling at the much younger children waiting to shower her with flowers once she reached the dock. The Princess was as popular as ever, the waiting d’Angelines will always love their little Pearl, nearly a thousand were gathered there simply to see her arrival. When the band struck up the anthem, all eyes briefly glanced their way, and disaster struck. I could just barely hear Desiree’s shriek over the music, and I looked to see her skidding down the gangplank, arms windmilling and feet skipping as she tried to regain her footing. It was as if someone had greased the planks, and the Princess was headed for the most humiliating landing imaginable, and possibly a few broken bones.

Half of the band played on while the half that saw what was happening stopped playing with a few broken notes, adding an even more jarring air to the proceedings. Even her Guards were caught flat-footed, Bao leapt to the railing of our ship as if he were about to attempt an impossible leap to put his body between Desiree and the flagstones. He did not have to try, at the last second a tall man appeared as if by magic at the bottom of the gangplank and caught her up in his arms. He broke her momentum with a half-spin and gently set her to the ground. The Princess gazed up at him with wondering eyes, and he bent over her to speak. Desiree shouted out delighted laugh, right in the face of this man, and hugged the stranger before the entire thunderstruck crowd. Then she stepped back, reached up and flicked his flowing mustache with her finger, and nodded to him with a radiant smile.

We soon found out that he had said to her; “My mate bids me to inform you that the scales are now in balance, and the next move is up to you.”

Thus it was that Desiree met Merrin, and the truce was over as far as the battle of the pranks were concerned.

“I’m sure it is perfectly safe, now.” Sushulana said to us as she slipped past Brice and skipped down the gangplank. It had been a spell of her’s that had made the planks so slippery in the first place, and lasted only as long as the joke did. Sushulana’s flowing hair covered her ears, for the most part, nothing else about her was being concealed from the crowd her clothes did not cover. They did not cover her overly much; she was wearing the clothing of Nova Angelica for this event. A broad-brimmed sunhat and a band about her breasts were both made of a silvery white material, and were both held in place by straps connecting to a collar of the same material wrapped around her throat. A long orange skirt rode so low on her hips that her navel and several inches below that were visible, and the skirt was so long that nothing of her legs could be seen but her booted feet.

With Brice hurrying after her, she went straight to Merrin for a hug and a kiss, the sort that lovers who have been separated for weeks are entitled to.

“Such a lively pair.” Gemma commented smoothly as she moved to the gangplank. “What a relationship they must have, to remain so enthusiastic after all these years.”

Bao and I were to follow her, we could not take our eyes off the couple, and the Princess waving to the crowd to get their attention. Desiree was going to introduce them… here and now.

I sighed. “They managed that rather well, didn’t they?”

“Too well, I am afraid.” Bao grumbled. “People will remember the manipulations and treachery of the de Barthelme family. Practical joke or not… I believe that they may have done themselves more harm than good today.”


	52. Chapter 52

53

 

 

He turned out to be more correct than we could have known at the time.

I had been sending a steady stream of messages to King Thierry since Sushulana had arrived, and I received my first reply when we landed in Azzale.  
There was also a second, with a tone more that indicated more haste and less humor than the first.

_“It is now impossible for me to meet you in Azzale, or anywhere else beyond the City. The hum of curiosity that certain books and rumors from Alba caused has now become a buzz that will be approaching the level of an uproar by the time you arrive here._

_None of the results of the actions of your friends are doubted, but there remains no proof that they were indeed behind any of the things they describe. Thanks to your letters, I know more of the truth than anyone else here. This includes the archivists and the academy, who have been searching and failing to find any supporting references. Please keep me informed and do not delay your arrival here.”_

 

 _Do not delay_ , he said, and I made certain that the Princess knew it. She reveled in the warmth of her homecoming, a tonic for her soul after the tepid curiosity of Alba.  
Desiree would often bring Merrin and Sushulana to the fore, at make certain that everyone knew just who they were. She also did the same from Bao and myself, more often that either of is were comfortable with. Would we ever be able to travel in Terre d’Ange without fanfare again? My reminders did help keep the Princess on track, and our progress was nearly as great as it would have been without our exotic guests, Merrin included.

Sushulana could flow like water through a crowd, Merrin insisted that the crowd part for him. We discussed this on our second night of travel, in a pavilion tent erected for just the occasion of our passing through. I had to stop thinking of Desiree as one of ‘the children’ that night, as she insisted on being there with us for this meeting. Since we had no wish to find our boots full of molasses on the morrow, none of us argued the point.

“My mate tells me that we may have been a bit presumptuous, counting on your advocacy here. It is actually more my fault than her own. I have been making plans along these lines since we last met, and she can’t help getting caught up in a good scheme, can you dearest?”

Sushulana smiled and the tip of her tongue poked out of the side of her mouth. “That is one way to put it. You can’t be blamed if you just assume that everyone will want to play the same games you do, they are such _good_  games, after all.”

“This is a game to you?” Desiree asked just as I was starting to ask the same question.

“No!” Merrin instantly answered her. “We are entirely earnest here, and we want nothing from anyone in this Kingdom save one thing; recognition. Getting that, and passing all the tests and examinations and scrutiny along the way, well, that is a game in itself, isn’t it? And even if your Highness is fully behind us in this… well, that is merely the first step in the process, and a difficult one it may be.”

“Highness…” all eyes went to me as I slowly repeated that word, but my gaze was fixed on Sushulana. “Curious, that is not the first time I have heard Merrin call you that, Princess. However, I don’t think I have ever heard _this_  one use that word in the weeks we have known each other.”

Desiree’s memory was much sharper than my own. “Oh, I don’t expect she ever would.” She smiled at Sushulana. “You have it with you, yes?” 

“Always.” Sushulana lifted her skirt to her knees, and turned her boot-top outwards. The Companion’s Star was fastened to the inside of her riding boot. “I was meaning to ask, later, if openly displaying this would be … unseemly, or some such thing.”

Desiree smiled, And then suddenly checked herself before she could say more. It was interesting to see it in her, but she did have something of the strength of Ysandre, and just a little the careful self-control as Sidonie herself. “I don’t know what you should do with that, if you are asking me. People have seen you without it, but you have not been dressing very formally. Mayhap you should wait until you do, to start displaying the star?”

“Wouldn’t hurt if you started dressing more along those lines soon. Tomorrow would do nicely.” Merrin tipped his head towards Sushulana and gave her a look to let her know he was being perfectly serious. He was wearing black trousers, boots and long vest over a white shirt, very similar to what we had seen him wearing in Bhaktipur a decade ago. It was very conservative, and suited him well, but was also one of the least remarkable things a man can wear. Without asking, I knew why he did so; convenience. He could walk into almost any civilized land in the world wearing such garb and fit right into that society's norms.

Almost any… wondering how he would be seen in the Nauhuatl Empire made me smile.

The level of curiosity and the numbers of hangers-on that our procession attracted was not much greater than the return of the Princess had been expected to create all on it’s own. Most of the people who could take the time from the demands of their daily lives were already doing so, and our exotic companions were not making a spectacle of themselves. Sushulana’s appearance may have been a touch unearthly, but her personality was as down-to-earth as ever. Merrin’s human guise made him appear relatively unremarkable, his manner aloof yet not unfriendly.

 

We discovered that everything would change in the City of Elua when we were still more than a day away from it. Lianne Tremaine herself arrived with a message from the King that directed us to at small port down upriver from the city, where we would take the Royal barge to the city itself. This sort of departure from the scheduled route down the main highway meant trouble, as Lianne confirmed;

“You can’t imagine the uproar this is causing. A third of the people are as upset as if a conquering army is about to descend on them. A third part are thrilled and eager to meet the strangest visitors we have ever had, and the rest don’t know what to think of all this.”

“And you?”

“Oh please, Bao, what do you think? I can hardly wait to meet them, but first.” Lianne’s eyes flashed with the same old lively curiosity, “you have brought a retinue of your own people with you, yes? Where are your Maghuin Dhonn? How are they getting on, what do they think of Terre d’Ange?”

The greatest blessing of the stir that Sushulana and Merrin had caused was that it diverted so much of the attention away from my bedazzled kinfolk. “Their impressions are much the same as my own when I first arrived, they tell me so at dinner every evening. If you want to ask them yourself, speak to Mabon, he is the only one that speaks d’Angeline.” I hesitated before explaining. “Sushulana gave him that ring.”

“She did? That is … interesting.” Lianne lowered her voice to a level we could barely hear. “Have either of them spent any time with the Princess, when nobody else was there?”

Bao set his jaw, grimacing as he asked her; “Is this the King’s question?”

“His, and many thousands of other people. There is talk of an inquisition being convened.”

While Bao asked what that meant (it was just what it sounded like) I raked my recent memories of Desiree’s adventures. “No, in fact, they both have had a good sense of propriety in that regard. Surprisingly so, in Sushulana’s case. The closest Merrin came to being alone with her…” I could not help laughing, and I quickly told her about Merrin’s prank at the dock.

“Desiree may have finally met her match.” Lianne said thoughtfully. “I still haven’t been able to get her back for that Ant.” Years ago, Desiree has somehow arranged for a model of ant at half a foot long to be placed in the bottom of a commode bowl belonging to the King’s scribe. “I wonder if _they_  would be willing to help me with that?”

“Ask them. No doubt, you will have a lot of time to talk to them tomorrow.”

 

She did, of course. The trip down the river was full of leisure time, and while Bao and I spent most of the day with our children, Lianne was fully occupied taking the measure of Merrin & Sushulana. Mabon and the rest of the Maghuin Dhonn had been moving and acting as a self-contained block until now. They were able to take their ease and put a little distance between each other on the big, comfortable barge. There was a couple among them, and a pair that were pretending to be a couple who were actually looking to find new partners… anticipating that some d’Angeline folk would see breaking them up as a bit of a coupe.

The Maghuin Dhonn are not nearly as ignorant of the ways of the world as people take us to be.

They were also doing their best to learn something of the language, and for this they had turned to Brice and Desiree. Mabon was paradoxically useless for that. While the ring gave him the ability to understand any language, he could not LEARN anything about them while he was wearing it.

“Magic is a tricky thing, no?” he sighed, sitting next to us at the front railing, absently allowing his left foot to engage in a wrestling match with Arslan.

“I think it was Sushulana who said that magic is just a word people use to describe something they don’t understand.” Bao commented, eyes searching the riverbanks for something interesting to fix on.

“You think?” Mabon looked at us both, and then nodded. “All those memories coming back to you, it must be difficult to keep it all sorted. An on-going process, aye?”

“Indeed it is.” Vala had her back to me, sitting on the deck near Arslan as she eagerly did her best to put a higher shine on my shoes. I could not see her face, but I sensed her tensing with concern, she was just old enough to understand something of what we were talking about. For her sake, I added; “A part of ourselves has been returned to us, and we are glad to have it back. As you say, it is just a matter of sorting it out, and adjusting. Rather like breaking in a new pair of shoes.”

Bao grunted out a short laugh, and nodded. “It isn’t even that difficult, it is more a matter of going ‘yes, I knew that, why didn’t I think of that already?’ every so often.”  
I felt Vala’s little hands relax, and the chamois cloth move on to a new patch of already shiny leather.

Anticipating the reception we would receive, we were all wearing our best. Bao and I had left our finest d’Angeline clothes at our house, the house loaned to us by the Sharizai family. However, Bao would not be parted from his Magpie Jacket, and I still had a golden Sari that traveled well. Desiree was wearing a fine set of Alban doeskins that had been presented to her by the Cruach himself, dyed a vibrant shade of forest-green and embroidered with a variety of colors, including much silver. Her boots were works of art in themselves, silken slippers with uppers made of tiny patches of fur, woven together seamlessly to form interesting patterns. A short cape of black sealskin hung from her shoulders, with links of bronze woven through the borders, and the Princess had left the hat that went with the ensemble so that she could wear her tiara.

Our dress was more exotic than that of our companions; Merrin’s preference for black was shown in his full-length coat, this time one with red cuffs and lapels, and his high boots. He also wore a ruffled ascot and trousers tucked into the tops of the boots, these were so white that Sushulana must have worked a spell on them.

Sushulana outshone us all. She wore a dress that must have been a reproduction of the one that Sidonie had commented on, nothing so fine and delicate could have survived all this time, especially not with the rough & tumble lifestyle the Elf seemed to lead. The sleeves, back and most of the skirt was white, with flowing sleeves that could have concealed all manner of things… had they not been translucent. The red felt collar, bodice and pleats were embroidered with gold, in bold patterns that suggested something of the Tiberium of old. The draw-strings used to tighten the waist were also gold, all down the front so that the wearer could dress herself without any aid. And of course, the Companion’s Star was there for all to see, pinned to the bodice over her right breast, so high that part of it was over bare skin. She wore her hair loose and full, offering just the occasional glimpse of her unusual ears, and had no jewelry but the star and three rings.

Mabon flowed my gaze with his own, and understood my thoughts. “Stubborn, that one is. But once you convince her to do something, she does not do it by halves, eh?”

Bao chuckled, and left the bench to sit on the deck with his back to the railing, from where he launched a tickle-attack on Vala and Arslan simultaneously. “I wish we knew her as well as we got to know her daughter. I wish we knew Merrin… better than we do.”


	53. Chapter 53

54

 

The closer we came to the city, the more there was for us see. An increasing number of boats paralleled our course, and on-lookers from shore gathered in ever larger numbers. An hour north of our destination we passed close by an lovely mansion built into a steep section of the riverbank. Four stories of columned balconies were filled with people waving and cheering, and Bao hastily stood up with the rest of us to return the greeting.

Mabon also stood up. “I should return to our people, it looks as if things will start getting busy again.” He looked to me, and smiled. “All of us are volunteers. Thank you, Moirin.”

“For what?” I had been worried about that, and what I was making them do.

“For finally bringing us with you. For my part, it is pure curiosity. Yet, not all of our people are content with a fate that would see the Maghuin Dhonn simply fade away. The new generation... they don’t like that idea, not by half.”

 

When we arrived at the city itself, the greeting ready for us took my breath away. Not the fanfare, it was the _size_ of the crowds. When we had left the previous Spring, there was the one temporary pavilion erected for the King and his immediate party, and the avenue leading out to the countryside was lined with a few hundred well-wishers.

Today, there was no road, just the docks, and the ships, and the walls looming over us…. all of which were crowded with people of every description. Some clever folk had erected scaffolding at the base of the walls so that they could charge sight-seers for a better view. Boats that had followed us at a respectful distance now began to crowd around us as we approached the dock, and everyone aboard moved about the deck to take our proper places for our procession ashore. There was a little confusion at the last moment; Merrin and Sushulana did not seem to know where to stand, and neither did anyone else. Now that the moment had arrived, the size of the crowd was daunting … as they would have been to anyone in the world.

The procession would normally have had the Princess go first, flanked by Brice and sister Gemma, thence Bao and I with our children with the Maghuin Dhonn right behind us. Lianne and the Guards would bring up the rear, and Merrin & Sushulana…. the question of what to do with them had reared it’s head before we were even walking on the city’s pavement. Should we have them with Bao and I, coming before the Maghuin Dhonn that I had insisted on bringing here, or between us and the Princess… which would be even more awkward as it was expected that we should be the ones to introduce them.

I went to Sushulana to explain this, and my worried looks gave her the wrong idea regarding what I was anxious about. “Don’t worry dear. I know they are here to gawk at, not _greet_ , my mate and I.”

Oh, that was not what I wanted to hear, and the fact that it was true filled me with a certain resolve. I glanced at Desiree, and silently communicated our intentions to each other. The princess slipped her arm around Merrin’s elbow and pulled him along with her to the head of the gangplank. Brice and Gemma assumed their places slightly behind and flanking them both.

I took Sushulana to my family and told her “Vala insists on walking on her own all the time now, but Arslan is still young enough to appreciate having a good view.”  
Before kneeling and offering Arsland a ride on her shoulder, Sushulana whispered to me out of the side of her mouth; “You can be pretty fucking brilliant, you know that?”

  
Behind me, Mabon snorted a laugh into his hand, “We try not to tell her that too often, lest we give her a big head.”

I stepped on his foot as I took my place between Sushulana and Bao. My husband of ten years put one arm across my shoulder and put the other in Vala’s hand.

Thus it was that we made our entrance, yet that is not all there was to it.

Halfway down the plank, Desiree appeared to stumble or trip. Merrin tensed up and half-turned towards her, but before he could do anything Desiree straightened right up at turned her head towards him… and the radiant yet taunting smile she showed him came straight from her mother. It was a daring move on Desiree’s part, but it also showed that she had read those books, and read them well. Surrounded by so many people, Merrin had closed his mind to the thoughts of everyone around him. The crowd on the dock went silent for a moment, and Merrin’s jaw dropped.

I could just barely make out his words; “You … _oh_ , God’s help us if you ever sit on the throne-“

“Oh pish-tosh, _everyone_  says _that_!” Desiree rolled her eyes and resumed leading us all at a perfectly stately pace. “Come now, I am relying on you both to bring us something new to talk about.”

 

The King waited for us on a raised platform near the city gate, a block from where we landed. It was a little surprising to hear Desiree adress him as “King”, even though I had been hoping that she would. Previously she had always called him King-brother, or Brother-my-King, turning her childhood mis-calling of Thierry into a running joke. Now that her 13th birthday had come and gone, Desiree was going to show that she knew things must be different.

Thierry himself noticed this, barely. His face was rigidly neutral and his eyes were in constant motion. Desiree saw this as clearly as I did, and she displayed a more casual air as she introduced him to Merrin, and then Sushulana. The Elf handed Arslan off to me and skipped up the stairs to meet the King, and once she was on her way I looked to Bao, upset with Thierry’s nervousness. “He did not sound anxious about them in his letters, I thought he had accepted this.”

Bao angled his head towards the crowd. “I don’t believe that it is _them_ he is worried about.” All around us, there were people with the same expression and posture that the King was showing. Some showed fear, several peers wore a look of haughty disdain, and a few ignored all but Desiree and … myself.

Lines had already been drawn in the battle to come. Certain minds had been made up before our arrival, and they had included ME in their calculations. They were making this personal before it even began, I knew that instinctively, and the anger I felt brought a color to my cheeks that made Bao warn me by complimenting my blush.  
Lianne also noticed, and spoke over my shoulder; “Welcome back to the snake-pit.”

We did not hear much of what was said on the platform, the buzz of the crowd was too strong to allow that until we climbed the stairs. Merrin had just begun an attempt to bow to the King, and Thierry had interrupted that gesture with a handshake, welcoming a fellow sovereign rather than a subject. Sushulana saw that, and in turn ignored the King’s arms held out for a hug. She curtsied to him, going so low that her knee knocked on the floorboards. Thierry bent low, and hosted her to her feet, then rapped a finger on the Companions star. It came as a relief that Sushulana did not pretend to have forgotten the meaning of that Star, and it’s privileges. Instead, she pointed to Desiree, asking a question that I could not make out despite the sudden quieting of the crowd. The Princess stepped up and put an arm around Sushulana’s shoulders, playing to the crowd as much as she was communicating with her brother. Thierry laughed, nodded, and held out a hand to Sushulana. When she extended her own hand, he took it and bowed again, turning the hand to kiss it gently.

It was a time-honored little trick, but it did serve to make two points; that it was the King who would set the terms of the throne’s relationship with our exotic guests… and that unlike virtually everyone else at this gathering, the King was not taken by surprise by the Companion’s Star.

Terre d’Ange has a very good King.

Brice and Gemma waited patently for us to ascend first, and at the top of the stairs Thierry knelt to greet our children first, then rose to accept our bows and then hug us both. He guided us to one side of the platform, and instead of whispering, he announced something to us; “Please know that I take all of this very seriously, and we shall be dealing with this promptly. I mean that! There is, however, something that may seem frivolous given the current situation … I intend to marry, and the announcement simply cannot be put off a moment longer.”

This time, it was everyone on the platform who went quiet, and froze in place.

The King had never seemed to take the issue of Royal succession seriously, his one drawback in the eyes of many. For three years after returning from Terra Nova, he had many dalliances atop Mont Nuit, leading some to speculate that he would be choosing a Queen from among the many adepts vying for his affections, as had his father. Such was not to be, the King then spent the next year considering the limited number of candidates among the peerage, also without any lasting result. For the last three years, he had kept to the Palace, and his own council. Aside from a mildly scandalous affair with an adventurous (and older) woman from Illyria, he seemed to have given up. This dismayed many at court, except for Desiree, who adored her brother and always defended him.

I was as surprised as anyone else, the pieces did not come together in my mind until Thierry met Sister Gemma at the head of the stairs. He greeted her not with words, but with a warm smile meant only for her, and the eager kiss of one long parted from his love. Gemma returned all of that, and more. She had shed the icons of her calling when nobody was looking, and that was the key to their secret relationship, I realized now. Gemma, a Sister no more, had been largely invisible to most of us for so long.  
Ah, but not to Thierry. How long had this been going on, how feigned had his interest been in the others that had come his way?

“I will have a Sister-in-Law!” Desiree shouted to the crowd, and the spontaneous cheer was deafening. Desiree was not surprised, naturally, the only one among us who was ready for this and enjoying herself immensely. Brice had frozen in place, and was mumbling to himself halfway up the stairs. Bao was laughing and petting our children, who were both clinging to him. He also nudged me, and nodded to the one other person present who was not floored by this sudden revelation. Merrin had taken a step back, one hand on Sushulana’s shoulder, his face perfectly composed as he sneaked a wink at Desiree. Sushulana gaped at him, and then thumped his chest with the back of her hand as she started to scold him for not telling her about this.

So, he had known, and kept the secret.

And if Bao and I had noticed that, who else had?

I had just a heartbeat to ponder this before I noticed the nearness, and the numbers, of the Sharizai clan all around us.


	54. Chapter 54

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have discovered that putting some writing off does not make it easier... just the opposite.  
> What seems to work best for me is looking at it every day, and even if only a paragraph or two comes to mind, then so be it, just keep adding something every day.  
> Stephen King once said that if you can't produce at least 1500 words a day, you are just plain lazy... but then, I doubt if he was working another job besides writing when he said that.  
> Life happens...

55

 

 

The fact that we spent half the year living in the house that the Sharizai had lent us gave that clan access to us, and this was something that we had never begrudged them. Not until this moment had I any reason to. While almost everyone else’s attention was swept up in the excited surprise of Royal nuptials being announced in nearly a generation, they were all still focused on Merrin and Sushulana. Their looks ranged from darkly curious to avaricious contemplation of how useful these new people might be to their interests, most were a combination of the two, and I did not like it at all.

Neither did Merrin, who appeared by my side. “Lets see how _they_  like it.” He leaned on the railing with both hands and returned the very same look they were giving him, and held it just long enough for all of them to realize what they had done. I heard a grinding squeal from the railing, and when he took his hands away I could see the deep impressions that his fingers and thumbs had made… in solid wood as thick as my wrist.

Not all the Sharizai were taken aback. Balthazar Stepped away from his fellows and walked right up to the edge of the platform. Merrin was back wth Sushulana before Balthazar was close enough to speak with me. He was smiling as he tossed a bundle of flowers up at me, and spoke in the gruesomely cryptic way that only the Sharizai can; “Your new friends play the game well, but you! Do you really think anyone will be fooled?”

It had never occurred to me that the Sharizai would be an enemy in this. “Fooled?” I shook my head at him. “By what?”

“Your amnesia, or whatever you call it. We really must come up with a better story that that!”

Oh Gods…

 

“I suppose that one of the greatest questions facing us is, will our friends be more of a problem than our enemies?”

After endless rounds of introductions, announcements greetings and the reception at the palace, we settled in for a private meeting as soon as we could… which was the middle of the night. The King and his recently announced Fiancé were seated in a chair that reflected a new fashion in Terre d’Ange. There were no arms, only two backs coming together in one corner. The King sat down first, and Gemma sat across his lap, very comfortable and making use of a back and a footrest make specially so that her weight would not cut off the circulation in Thierry’s legs. Now that she had changed from her plain robes into something more festive, and the king was in less formal evening wear, they made a very charming and natural couple.

I was still shaking my head whenever I looked at them, wondering how this union had taken me by surprise, I really should have seen it coming. The two people who had known proved to be adept at keeping the secret were Desiree and Merrin… something that Sushulana was still miffed about. She did have a good reason for being so, as nighter she nor Merrin had an appropriate gift prepared for the coming nuptials.

Nor did anyone _else_ , for that matter…

Gemma’s remarkable self-control aside (not to mention Desiree’s nonchalance) the question ringing louder in my mind than how they could have kept this secret, was _why_  they thought they had to. Did they think that the rest of us could not keep our mouths shut? Did they do it for fun, or at Desiree’s suggestion? Did they think that Gemma would have been at greater risk in Alba?

Oh.

That last question’s answer was enough to bring me back to the here & now, and to Bao’s own question.

 

That question was one he was free to ask without seeming uncouth, as Balthazar was not present. There was only my family, and the King’s family, and the couple at the center of a maelstrom of their own making.

“Master Bao, that would depend on the number, and the nature, of our enemies.” Merrin arched a fluffy eyebrow at Thierry. “And moreover, do we really want to know about them?"

“You don’t already?” Gemma asked, with mild skepticism. “Ahhh… I see, the headaches of dealing with a teaming multitude?”

“No, although now that I am here, the prospect of opening my mind in this city is more daunting than ever. This place has grown, somewhat, and with so many thoughts directed at me, personally,” he winced, “it would be a bit much.”

“If you had to…” Thierry prompted Merrin.

“I could, for a time. However, I would prefer not to go into this with any pre-conceptions. People have an annoying habit of changing their minds from one day to the next. It is a mystery to me how this works, but your race is not just flexible, but also changeable in ways that are nearly as random as some others I could mention.” He turned slightly to wink at Sushulana, seated at his side on a luxurious couch.

“A briefing in general terms is something I would like to hear.” Sushulana said in a blunt, military tone. “We have not been in touch for some time, not in the ways anyone would assume. Not as we _might_ have…” She faltered, “Look… we can’t go into this with any actual subterfuge, we KNOW that. Any schemes would be detected, and that’s not my forte’ anyhow. That in itself is a trap, for those that accuse us of that sort of thing and they fall flat when they find nothing to support their accusations. Simple truth is all we offer. What I need to know is… who isn’t satisfied wth that? Who will come out against us just for the sake of it, or to gain notoriety for themselves.”

The King nodded. “You would rather hear it from me first, yes?” The both nodded, and with a brief glance at Bao and myself, he continued; “Duke Davet Harcourt de Braux of Camlach has already come to me about … you. He wants to confront you both, his role as protector of all things d’Angeline demands it, apparently. Marc d’Uxellles has been stirring the pot against you in Parliament.”

“The Jurist?” Desiree asked, with some concern, and her brother nodded.

I had heard of both men in passing, but had never met either of them. The next set of names were totally unknown to me.

“There is also a harridan known as Sister Elysia that has been making a fuss in Night’s Doorstep, preaching to anyone passing by about the evils of magic and those who would use it. An archivist, Gwenaëlle Rochat, has openly scoffed at your story and demanded proof that you ever existed.” Thierry let out a chuckle. “She even demands proof that you exist, as claimed, in the here and now.”

“A demonstration?” Merrin sighed. “We may need some help with formulating something that would not play into the hands of our detractors.” He gazed at the King silently for a moment. “And you, your Highness?”

Merrin could be blunt, too, and Thierry was ready for that. “I will take a position similar to the vast majority of my subjects, albeit for a different reason. I will be taking a neutral stance regarding this issue. The outcome to be determined by your conduct and the evidence you present us with.”

“So that you may cast judgement on them.” Lianne said in a barely audible way.

“Evidence?” Bao asked sharply. “There is to be a trial?”

“No!” The King said just as quickly, and everyone in the room relaxed just a bit. “We will not be giving that sort of appearance to any of this. I also dislike having any of this take place in the Parliament chambers for the same reason… however … I don’t know of another place where there is enough space for everyone you would want to witness what is coming.”

Sushulana smiled, and Merrin dipped his head agreeably as he said; “You understand us already.”

“In only one day, I can’t say I have learned very much. All I know is that your manners and attitudes mesh perfectly with what I have read about you. Having the maximum number of common folk in attendance is bound to be a good thing, we really have no other way to keep the City at large informed. The problem is, finding room for them. Frankly, we have only had one event of this sort since the days of Prince Imriel.” The King nodded at Bao and I. “Yes, our return from Terra Nova. I dare say that this will be even more profound, and the need to have all these revelations conveyed to the public accurately is even greater. The strange nature of all this, it is so far outside our normal frame of reference … “

There was another moment of silence as we thought about that. Only the Princess had a practical solution to the immediate problem. “What about the theater?”

The King and Gemma glanced at each other, smiled and shook their heads. Not in negation, but in a humorous interpretation of her motive; “What, so that you may observe the proceedings without giving yourself away?”

Desiree harrumphed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I rather thought that I was now old enough to attend such functions! And unless you want to do all this outside of the Palace, that is the place where we have the largest number of seats.”

Sushulana was looking around at all of us, skeptical of the idea. “Use a theater? Wouldn’t that make all of this look a bit …. _theatrical_?”

“Not necessarily.” All eyes went to Lianne Tremaine. She snapped out of her detached air and raised her voice to a more conversational level. “It would take less than a day to re-decorate the whole theater, correct? Cover the more frivolous decorations with the Royal flags, and move the thrones and chairs and tables to the stage. The balcony the Royal family and their guests use would be ideal for the archivists and their scribes. Best of all, the acoustics are perfect. Nobody in attendance would be able to misunderstand what is being said on the stage.”

Merrin and Thierry glanced at each other, the former Emperor and the current King came to an accord instantly.

“If it could work as she said, it sounds like a fine idea.” Merrin allowed.

Gemma laid her head on Thierry’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. He smiled and said; “The tales of old make these testimonies sound as if they were tests of endurance. We may as well make use of the most comfortable setting available to us!”


	55. Chapter 55

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to get it back to 4 Chapters a month here.

56

 

 

Norbert was waiting for us at the door when we arrived, four hours before dawn he looked as if he had known we would arrive at that hour all along. The pair of servants that he summoned with a snap of his fingers did not look so fresh. They relieved me of Arslan, and Bao of Vala with such a deft touch that our children never woke up, and with nary a comment on how much weight they had gained in the last half-year.

“Will you be needing anything else before retiring for the evening?” Norbert asked.

Bao handed him a slip of paper with some names on it. “See if anyone can find anything out about these people. And if anyone bothers us before noon, I will do something very painful to them.”

There was a sound from within the chamber across the hall, the one we had never altered and never had any use for ourselves. Norbert sighed, “I had rather hoped he would be asleep by now.” Then he cleared his voice. “You have a caller awaiting you-“

There was a creak, and at the doorway Balthazar poked his head out. “Hello there, I don’t suppose you could spare a moment?”

How curious it was, and how gratifying, that Norbert had thought to thwart a Sharizai for our benefit. My family must have made an even better impression on him than I was aware. Balthazar’s clan was still paying the upkeep on our house, including his salary. I was able to give Balthazar a genuine smile when I said “Of course, but only a moment. We shall be missing half the day as it is.”

“Only if our children allow it.” Bao reminded me.

“Of course, just a moment then.” Balthazar closed the door to the playroom behind him, a good indication that he would keep it brief, but he also waited until Norbert had started up the stairs before he started speaking. “I had half expected your new friends to be staying with you, here, tonight.”

“After Sushulana revealed the Companion’s Star?” I laughed, which may have been unkind, yet I was too tired to be refined. “No, they are securely ensconced in the Palace. Why, are you hoping for a word with them?”

“Fascinating as they may be, I was hoping to avoid them for the time being. What I would truly like to be doing is welcoming you all back in proper fashion, but I see that will have to wait for another day. As will the Royal wedding, I presume?”

“Of course!” Bao made no effort to hide his irritation. “There are months of preparations to be made, the invitations alone will require weeks to be answered. Are you here fishing for information that you could find almost anywhere?”

I was feeling a little more kindly towards Balthazar, our old comrade from Terra Nova, especially after revealing his desire to give us a proper welcoming… the first I had heard since our whirlwind arrival. “Do you think that Merrin & Sushulana’s case will cast a shadow over their wedding?”

“Only if this whole thing turns into a disaster. I will help you avoid that, if I possibly can.” He hesitated. “There is another matter, separate from this one. If I had known how late your arrival would be, I would not have lingered to mention it…”

“Just speak it, so we can get some rest.” I tried to say that more gently than Bao would have. “Unless it will cost us our sleep?”

“Seven unusual ships have been sighted, south of Aragon. Word just reached us today… well, yesterday going by the calendar days. And when I say “us”, I mean only the exceptionally well-informed.”

“The Bird-Post?” Bao asked.

Balthazar nodded and quickly added; “If they are from Nova Angelica, your friends have a day at most to explain them in some way, or make an announcement… or tell us if they are not their own.”

“Thank you. That was well worth the hearing… oh, there is something else, yes?”

“Yes.” Balthazar groaned. “It may seem petty, but as I said, this is a separate development. Since last Spring, or earlier, certain members of my clan have become…. restless. About you, and this arrangement.” He made a vague wave, on that encompassed all our surroundings.

“What?” Now it was my turn to become snappish. “This _house_ , do you mean?”

“Yes. Please, I stand against them in this, and it isn’t truly all that serious at this point. Yet discontent grows over time, and now that there is new information about the former owner of this house-“

“Melisandre.” Of course, now that her roll in adding some territory to the Kingdom had come out, the Sharizai would feel emboldened to press their case for rulership of Kushethe, their home province. Our use of this house was a gift, but one predicated on our support for them in this matter.

“Oh gods…” I closed my eyes and swayed on my feet, contemplating the complications this could cause. I heard Bao say;

“And you think our ‘new friends’ could make things happen for you, with a little prompting from us?” He groaned. “No, not you, a _friend_  would not come to us asking for such a thing. You came so that others would not approach us in a more uncouth way.”

“I do apologize-“

“Do they have any idea how dangerous this could be?” I opened my eyes to see Balthazar shrug.

“Oh, our reputation has-“

“Reputation be damned!” This time it was Bao who cut him off. "This is the most important moment for Marrin and Sushulana’s lives, lives that have gone on for centuries. _Bah_ , alright, perhaps an exaggeration, but not much of one. You are talking about using this moment for your own gain, and doing it through us?!”

For Balthazar’s benefit, I had to add; “You may think you know something about them from reading about them, but you have never experienced the reality of them, and what they can do!” I had seen Sushulana use a simple trick and the tactics of a street-fighter to take down someone more then twice as strong as Bao. We saw Merrin land on a fortress as stout as Troyes Mont and smash it! I held my tongue, not knowing how to explain that Balthazar without turning him and his whole clan against them.

“I was afraid of this. You have my apologies, and I will take my leave now. Yes, we were hoping to use this event t four benefit, and I won’t mention it again. However, you should know, and pass it on… we are far from the only ones that plan to take advantage of what is coming. Good night to you both.”

What he had said was outrageous, and upon reflection, inevitable. The City of Elua had been given fair warning, and an unimaginable number of them were ready to play the game of intrigue to their advantage.

 

We were able to sleep late thanks to Norbert. Not only had he made our house impenetrable to the outside world, but he also managed the far more difficult task of distracting our children. Diverting, would be a more accurate word, and starting with a grand tour of the premises. Exploration is something few children can resist, and when they delivered our carefully prepared Breakfast in Bed at noon, they knew more about this famous old house than I did.

Famous, rather than infamous. Melisande Sharizai’s reputation had undergone it’s final revision, and it was a positive one. Rumors of how her last husband had died included chronic over-work, and Melisande’s own demands driving him to suicide. The truth, and her roll in delivering the island of Kyrnos to the Kingdom, had not just made her a figure of controversy once more. Melisande was a figure of admiration in many circles. Outside, people strolling or riding along the street paused to take a good look at the house, and this continued after we left for the day.

There was a carriage waiting for us, parked outside the gate. It had answered no summons from us or the staff, so we could only assume that it had been sent by some patron that wanted to curry favor with us. It was a mixed blessing, as it was a fully enclosed carriage and a light drizzle was falling, on and off all day long. Bao walked out alone to see who it was, and to deliver a few choice words if it was a Sharizai waiting for us.

It was not. The coachman rapped on the roof as soon as he saw Bao coming, and did it again with greater force. I thought that whoever was inside must have been napping, and I was right. Rubbing his face with one hand, my father opened the door and stepped down to meet Bao on the sidewalk. I dashed out across the wet lawn, my children right behind me, and the Maid struggling to keep pace with us.

Anael was in Siovale, last I had heard, and was not planning on being in this City for another month or two. Even in those serene mountains, he had heard of what was happening in our life, and made his way back to us. He had not been dozing, he had slept in that carriage through the night as it trundled towards the City. The fine lines of the carriage told me that he had prevailed on some wealthy soul that he had helped, using his influence for his own benefit at last.

However, he had not spent the morning idly, while the rest of us slept.

Once the hugs and tender words and the quick tussle with his grandchildren was done, my Father had news for us. News of what had been happening in the City that Norbert had been striving to shield us from; “You strange aqaintances have been busy since the dawn, and on separate paths.”

Bao and I found it curious that Sushulana was getting by on half the sleep w'd had. Merrin, of course, could sleep for a week and stay active for a month, but the Elf? She must be even more focused and aroused than we had suspected. We exchanged a look as we boarded the carriage, and Anael gave us one in turn as our children followed us. He was just noticing that Vala and Arslan were both wearing their traveling clothes, plus cloaks to keep them dry. The Maid was coming along as well, and my father gave us a bemused smile. “My grandchildren must be persuasive indeed. Is it so difficult for them to spend a day at home on a rainy day? I would have thought that Alba would have trained them to accept such days.”

“You would be surprised what Albans are willing to do on a wet day.” Bao commented with an ironic tone.

To my father, I said; “It never occurred to me to leave them behind. Truly, it may be dull at times, for them. But honestly, what other justification could there be for leaving them behind? History is going to be made today, isn’t it?”

“It is, and it certainly will be in the days to come, if I have heard correctly. The theater?” I nodded, and Anael continued. “Interesting times…. very well then, while you slept, this Sushulana went to visit the Archives accompanied by the Princess. Merrin and the King were already at the Academy by the time the women had left. There were also a goodly number of craftsmen converging on the Academy, I saw some of them myself when I passed by a few hours ago. Alas, I have only the one carriage, and-“

“The Academy.” Bao and I said in unison.


	56. Chapter 56

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 4!

57

 

 

We knew that Sushulana would have no trouble proving the truth of her existence. Keeping herself hidden, now _that_  must have been the real challenge, and she must have needed all the help she could get from Merrin and Sidonie to succeed at it.

As for the Academy … what could Merrin be up to there? You could not call what he did ‘magic’, it was something else that I did not understand all that well. “I would have thought that their rolls would be reversed.”

“Perhaps.” Bao had his head partway out of one of the openings in the carriage’s side. “Or perhaps not. Do you remember how Merrin was fascinated with the most common things that had been built in Bhaktipur? The workmen heading there reminded me of that.”

“Didn't they also asked about the roof. We should have the driver find us a place near the main building.”

Bao was halfway out the window by the time we reached the Academy, straining to see what was ahead of us and calling out instructions to the man guiding the horses through ever-greater crowds of people heading the same way we were. Vala was right there with Bao, while Arslan was ignoring it all to chat with his adored Grandfather. I happened to glance out the other side of the carriage, away from Bao, and I said “We should stop right here.”

I had the door open before we came to a full stop, and pointed out what I had seen. “We come seeking one pair, and find the other.” The Princess, Lianne and Sushulana were standing on a small knoll that gave them a view over the heads of the people milling about on the lawns, their attention fixed on the Hall that was central to the Academy. There were men with tools, pulleys and ropes all over the steep roof, hard at work on removing the copper cladding. Several sheets had been freed and were being lowered to the ground, giving a tantalizing glimpse of something dark underneath, and the glint of gold.

We passed through the loose ring of Guards and were halfway up the knoll before any of the women noticed us. Sushulana did first and I could see that she had something clever on the tip of her tongue. Her mouth froze in an “ah” shape when she saw Phanuel, and the Elf stepped down the slope a short way to meet him. “Look Grampy," Arslan said, "she is what I said, right?”

With a nod to Arslan, Sushulana said “Am I?” and to Anael; “So, you are the one.” Then she simply stood still a moment, giving my father as long as he needed to take in the sight of her, and adjust to it. The only difference from the day before was that she had swept the hair on the sides of her head back, and held it there with a long & narrow comb made of red coral. In this way, her ears were fully revealed to one and all, and what a liberating thing that must have been for her.

“I suppose I am.” Anael said at last. “If what I hear is true, you have left us something of interest in my temple’s cellar. You have my apology, such a treasure should never have been over-looked for so long.”

Sushulana closed one eye, and made a half-turn away, a peculiarly shy gesture for her. “Well, you see…it was designed to be over-looked. I thought that, should the day come for whatever reason, that maybe it would be best if I made it easier for your ancestors to put us out of their minds for a while.”

Desiree came down to stand beside Sushulana, and she heard that last comment. While we all went to one knee before her, she asked the question that my father would have; “Why would you do something like that?”

“Respect for other people’s privacy, I reckon.”

“I see.” The Princess beckoned us to rise again. “How many came to you through that Gate?”

“Approximately 16,350. That is not counting eleven-hundred that I rescued myself or the number Merrin brought over with his own powers, which would be about twice what I have done.”

Desiree did the math in her head, and smiled. “Less than twenty thousand in a century… less than 200 per year, on the average. Isn’t it wonderful to know that so few among our teaming millions needed ‘rescue’, or were otherwise disenchanted with our society?” She saw something in Sushulana’s eyes, we all did, and it made her ask “What? What did we get wrong?”

“Nothing much, but it wasn’t a full century. The last time the gate here was used was 48 years ago.”

Seventeen years short of the century, and some years before the flower of the Courcel line was lost seeking Hyacinth’s book.

“I’m sorry.” Vala was the first of us to notice it, the pique and the sadness in Sushulana’s eyes. True to form, she didn’t try to hide it, even when Desiree took her hand.

“This estrangement that you helped facilitate in your own small way…” My Father could be daring, betimes, even when he was at his most conciliatory. “… you thought it would be temporary. Did you not?”

“Yes.” The Elf whispered.

“Then rejoice, for that is exactly what it has turned out to be, a temporary thing. Forty eight years is a long time, to be sure, but that time has come and gone. And now here we all are, for _you_.

Sushulana blinked quickly, and a gentle gasp of amazement woofed out of her. Her face much brighter than it had been a moment before, she glanced at me; “Oh, he’s _good_.”

I was ready to agree wholeheartedly when the crowd all around lost interest in us, and excited murmurs rose from all over the lawns.

The last sheets of copper were being lowered. The thick white-green patina that had formed on the copper was bright even in the subdued light of a rainy day. Underneath that was a foundation of red-brown wood, inlaid with ebony in the shape of a Dragon with out-spreading wings, far darker colors that were difficult to make out at first. Centered in the shadow-like image of the Dragon was a smaller Dragon, this one of gold leaf. The Gold and the heavily vanished wood looked shiny and new, as indeed they must. They had not been exposed to the weather since the day the roof had been installed… in Prince Imriel’s day.

Days when Alais the Wise had simply been Alais the young.

“They look familiar, don’t they?” Bao winked to me as we all trotted up to the top of the knoll.

Sushulana laughed, and Lianne asked; “Who, those two?”

A platform for the workmen had been assembled on the peak of the roof. Two men were using roped to help them climb down from there to the center of the roof, and the center of the golden Dragon. I imagined that they might be the King and Merrin, although I had no idea why they would be doing that, and what I saw were simply tall men dressed in dark clothes.

“That is a very singular calling card you left.” My father was saying to Sushulana. “How did things go at the academy?”

The Princess answered; “The inscription on the back of the Companion’s Star, it is also a code that opened up some sealed records in the archives. Among them was the first copy of Sidonie’s book.”

“And look there.” Sushulana added, pointing at the men on the roof. One of them was bent over the golden Dragon’s chest. I could not see exactly how he did it, but he opened a hinged panel where the Dragon’s heart would be. “The _manuscript_ is about to be found.” The other man lifted a box out with some care, and held it up for all to see.

I realized that I must have been wrong about something. “Those men, neither of them could be Merrin, or the King.”

Lianne shook her head. “Priests of Kushiel. They tend to be somewhat … stringent … regarding the truth of things.”

“Indeed they are.” father agreed. “And so, those who doubt the truth of our friends from Terra Nova have been silenced.”

“Not yet, but very soon. Moirin, Bao, pick up your kids, they won’t want to miss any of this.”

We did so, She was pointing at the main entrance to the Hall. Arslan would not have been able to see it over the heads of all the people between it and our knoll. There was a man exiting the building alone, and this time I knew for certain, it was Merrin. There was a small field of gravel where coaches could be parked, it had been cleared of all people and other obstructions. Merrin’s outline altered as he strode into the middle of it, and I knew he had changed to the shape of his true self. Next, he assumed his true size with breathtaking swiftness. He bore a good resemblance to his silhouette on the roof when he spread his wings and turned his head to one side.

Sushulana’s head was turning, looking for someone that was not standing there all agape at what they saw before them. She stepped up next to my husband and guided his free hand to the collar of her dress. “Bao, would you please hold this up out of the wet grass for me?” Vala also lent a hand from her perch on Bao’s shoulder, she was the only one of us looking at Sushulana, and it was her gasp that made me turn and look.

Sushulana’s dress was hanging there, empty, and Vala looked at me with wide eyes, saying just one awed word; “poof!”

I didn’t know she could do that without a gate. Had she become even more powerful in recent years, or was it a strictly short-ranged method of travel? If it was the later, where …

I looked back at Merrin, and the ground he was standing on. She was there, a tiny naked woman at the feet of the great Dragon. Her transformation was more leisurely, and involved a change in both shape and size at the same time. It seemed more natural, but also a little disquieting. The resemblance between her and her gold-leaf image on the roof was less like a shadow, and accurate right down to the smooth curves that ended with sharp points.

They held their poses for a moment, a moment to allow the good people of the City of Elua to take in the sight of them, under a secretly crafted roof that had been sealed for a century and a quarter. There was a profound stillness to go along with the silence. Arslan was just as still in my arms as the Princess or my father, all of whom were seeing the reality of the Dragons for the first time. It was not _my_ first time… and I remembered something important when it was too late.

Sushulana flexed her legs and thumped the ground with her coiled tail as she launched herself into the air. She had used a strong push so that she would not have to start flapping her wings right away. Even so, everyone on the lawn received a mild buffeting, and thus were ready to crouch and cover themselves a bit when Merrin followed her into the air an instant later. Leaves fell from the trees, such was the wind caused by his passage. 

It was difficult to look up at them, a light rain was falling into our eyes as they passed overhead. Bao and I stood tall, waving at them and I began shouting at them, then realized it was useless. Bao looked at me, wondering, and then he sighed and nodded to me while the Dragons flew away to make a circuit of the city. All eyes and ears were directed at them, all but ours.

“The ships.” Bao muttered.

We had forgotten to mention the matter of strange ships being sighted to Sushulana, and we had never come anywhere near Merrin.

“Oh well.” I said philosophically. “Back to the Palace. I suppose they will be returning there. Eventually.”


	57. Chapter 57

58

 

 

The manuscript was verified to be in Queen Sidonie’s own handwriting before the day was out. Gwenaëlle Rochat herself issued the proofs and a letter of apology that was somewhat unnecessary but also welcome. Word reached us that Sister Elysia was nowhere to be found, also welcome news… for the time being.

For hours afterwards, everyone in the Palace was in a bit of a daze. King Thierry himself commented when he saw us again; “And to think, people doubted you.”

“About…?”

“Dragons, Moirin. When you returned from Ch’in, and Bao put on that show with the acrobats. I have heard that people made mockery of the very idea. And now, the mockery is done with… forever.”

There was a note of finality in the King’s voice. No, there would be no more doubts, but what would take it’s place? Fear was a dreadful possibility, or perhaps more of a probability. Little did we know at the time how far some people would take it, or how easily some people can slip into madness.

 

The next morning we all had a good look at what changes had been wrought in the theater. It had been re-modeled and expanded three times since Sidonie’s day, one of those being in my lifetime. Hanging from the apex of the roof was a huge crystal chandelier which was suspended from an inverted cone covered with mirrors. I had not known it until that day, but the cone could be jacked up through the roof to allow daylight into the theater. So instead of lamplight, the cone of mirrors scattered sunlight. The bright sparkling effect muted by a covering of the sheerest gossamer, and the lighting was evened out by lighting every lamp and candelabra in every corner of the theater.

Blue and silver bunting was everywhere, of course, and the most spectacular example of Royal creativity was the wall behind the stage itself. That wall was covered with a bolt of cloth the size of a ship’s sail, in Courcel Blue. It had been drawn tight and pulled through a hole in the center of the wall. This created the effect of radiating lines, like the rays of the sun, and in the center was the Courcel Swan, a life-size image of pure silver.

The stage itself was an interesting compromise; half of it protruded into the audience chamber, half was recessed, and every bit of it was visible from every seat in the theater.

All one thousand and eight hundred of them.

This great change had been wrought in recent years, and had been part of the ages-old quest for the best possible acoustics in the Royal Theater. Rumor had it that perfection had now been achieved. To the few cynics in the land, this meant that the money that had been frittered away on Royal entertainments finally had a tangible result. The rest of us knew that this was the new prototype for theaters all through the realm, and that all the cities and large towns would someday have much better theaters thanks to the persistence of those who served the Royal line.

It was also a bit daunting. My children took a look around, and when they were done exploring they stood on the stage where our tables and chairs had been set up… and started making odd requests until I realized that they would rather be somewhere else. Mabon would be taking a tour of the city, believing that the real drama would not start until tomorrow, and so I sent the children off with his little group.

When Sushulana arrived, she took three steps in and froze, looking around as if she would rather be with Mabon as well. “When …?"

“Three years ago.” Bao said, and quickly realized he was speaking too loudly. The acoustics were very good indeed, even the most conversational tone would reach the most distant seats.

On the center of the stage, under the Swan, sat the Throne. To either side of the King’s throne and diagonal to it was a row of seats and several small tables, facing the audience at an angle. After some negotiation, and assurances that our children would not be seated with us, we arrived at seven being the ideal number of seats on each side. On our side would be the Princess and Merrin & Sushulana, of course. Lianne took the seat at the end nearest the King as she scribbled away.

Opposite us, I could clearly see those who opposed us for the first time. Marc d’Uxelles was flanked by a pair of scribes who kept him engaged in hushed conversation and passed papers back and forth. I thought it curious that he never once looked at any of us… until I realized that it was all a charade. The esteemed jurist had his underlings pretending to keep him busy so that he would not have to look at us! The lengths he was prepared to go to avoid seeing any of us as people irritated me, and I understood the reason for it. Marc wanted to see us as facts and figures, and isolate any human feelings from a case that he was determined to win. A terribly un-d’Angeline attitude, and one I thought matched his appearance; stout and dark of hair and eyes, he had something of a Euskerri look to him.

Barron Davet Harcourt de Braux of Camlach also had a pair of assistants, and all resemblance between the two ended there. This man had red hair and beard shot through with narrow streaks of white, was tall and wiry with eyes that were constantly roaming. He wore a simple silk tunic with a high collar that was not _exactly_  the Courcel blue, and fringed with gold rather than silver. His assistants were both female, and while one of them seemed vapid enough to be his favored companion, the other most certainly was not. While Mar d’Uxelles was closed-off and outwardly professional, Barron de Braux exuded the air of a Nobleman about to embark on a Grand Hunt.

I could not help notice that the Throne was just where the Judges would be seated in a real trial. We had already discussed this; King Thierry would indeed be rendering judgement, if all else failed. What we were truly hoping for was such an overwhelming public acclimation in our favor that any official verdict would be superfluous.

In fact, I suspected that nothing less would do.

We had all arrived early, the spectators would not finish arriving and finding their seats until mid-morning. We chatted among ourselves, falling into male and female groups. Bao, my late-arriving father and Merrin discussed strategy, while we women did exactly the same thing… albeit in a somewhat different way. Few men would believe it, but this is always the way. In the backs of all our minds, women always fear the day when their men will fail, even temporarily, and know they must be ready to shoulder the burdens they have been carrying. This is not a quest for privilege, it is more of a pact made for the sake of survival.

We shared our appraisals of the opposition, and quickly summed up the audience as they arrived. Sushulana was keen to hear what the Princess and Lianne had to say about their fellow d’Angeline folk, but her eyes kept trying back to me. At last, she held up a hand to end Lianne’s running commentary and said; “We have assumed much of you and Bao, and we have had little chance to talk about this. I just wanted you to know… I never would have had the nerve to attempt this if it weren’t for you, Moirin.” The idea that _she_ , of all the people in all the world needed moral support, and had found it in me left me at a complete lose for words. She hugged me, an impulsive gesture that reminded me both of who she was, and that she was indeed the mother of Rilrae. Then she turned to the Princess; “And you too, dear Desiree. Your upbringing has not been very pleasant much of the time, but you… Gods, the grace you have shown…”

The Princess stepped up and hugged Sushulana, firmly, putting her forehead to Sushulana’s as she tried to give strength to her new Companion. They were still nearly the same height, and it was a curious mix of childhood generosity and adult gravity that was a delight for me to behold. “You were tougher and clever than anyone in this room ever thought of being, by the time you were my age, weren’t you?” Desiree glanced back and forth, and at both Lianne and myself before continuing in a very soft voice; “They plan to ask you about that, your past. If no one else does, my brother will before this is over.”

Sushulana stiffened, eyes going wider, and then she nodded to Desiree. “Thank you.” She looked harder now, a sharper edge to her smile. Not just ready for what was ahead of her, but eager for it.

My father left Bao at that moment and smiled at us all in turn. He put a friendly hand on Lianne Tremaine’s shoulder and asked; “I take it you Ladies are ready to storm the battlements?”

“With your help?” I asked, hopefully.

“Do you think it wise?” He nodded at the opposition. “They were smart enough to leave one of their chairs empty, so as not to give the impression of outnumbering you. My tardy arrival could be used as an excuse to fill that seat… with Elua only knows _who_.”

“Point well taken.” Lianne said, glancing at me. "Today will mean little more than lengthy testimony from out exotic friends, and questions from those two. Ah… but if you were to join us later, it could indicate growing support for our side of the matter.”

“Ever the Fox, yes?” He let go of her shoulder and bowed slightly. “Then good luck making the Hounds look foolish.”

 

The entry of the King was greeted with the usual fanfare, and music that came close to frightening me. The drums beat and the trumpets were so close… and yet I could see nothing! No players, no instruments, for a heartbeat my forest-bred mind was close to panic. Bao put his arm around me, and hugged me to his side as he pointed downwards.

The Royal band was _beneath_  us?

I later learned that the stage had been extended over the orchestra pit, and to allow for the maximum number of seats it had been left in place. Covered over, but with vents aplenty to allow the sound to radiate into the theater. The brilliance of my father’s people may never cease to confound me as much as it delights me, I fear.

Standing before his throne (even after seven years of taking his ease in the palace, Thierry was never comfortable remaining seated for long periods) the King called the gathering to order. “Firstly I would like to thank all of the well-wishers that have showered myself and my wife-to-be with messages of congratulations. Please send no more gifts to us until the wedding day. Surely you can restrain yourselves for two more months?” There was a ripple of polite chuckles, and I shook my head again. Sister Gemma, of all people…

“As to these proceedings,” the King continued. “there are to be no formalities besides the ones I decree, and what good manners require. There are to be NO shouted questions or outbursts from the observers, if you have any questions you would like answered they will be submitted in written form to the staff of people you see before you.” He introduced all of us, by name. “This is not a trial, nor a hearing nor a function of any governing body. This is our chance to become more familiar with these two remarkable individuals and is being conducted at their request. At _their_  request. Now, is there an opening statement that anyone would like to make… yes?”

Merrin stood, and faced the King. “Your Highness.” He bowed to Theirry, who answered him with a nod and sat down at last, fussing with the cushions. The Dragon in human form faced the audience. “I have no grand pronouncements to make, nor would I know where to start. I believe that should any speeches be made they should wait for the end of this affair, once I know what needs to be said.” He stepped away from his chair and past the tables. “We have no agenda, no desires save for a reunification between ourselves and yourselves. There is also the desire for a union between the people of far-off Nova Angelica and you of this land. This later meeting of peoples, this reunion if you will, is something that I would prefer be resolved the people themselves, and the impression they make on you. Seven ships from our land are on their way here now, and should be arriving in half a month… with your permission?” Merrin half turned towards the King as he asked that question.

Marc d’Uxelles leapt to his feet and, while the King was halfway through his nod, asked; “What are the nature of these ships, exactly?”

“There are a pair of large merchant ships, two ships of war to escort them, and three smaller vessels of a type that my Sushulana introduced to this world, albeit much improved these days. There were to have been four of them…” Merrin glanced at Sushulana, who grimaced, “… one foundered along the way. This was to be expected, on such a long journey that includes such long stretches of unfamiliar territory.”

“My condolences,” Marc graciously allowed, “yet the Ch’in were able to make the journey at need, and without any major inconveniences.” Sushulana bristled at his use of that word to describe the lose of a ship, and I was sure he noticed. “One assumes that you were… otherwise occupied while your people were having these difficulties?”

Desiree rapped the table in front of her with her knuckles. “Can we not allow him to finish his opening words before you begin with this?”

Marc never took his eyes off Merrin as he sketched a slight bow in Desiree’s direction. “I would not dream of doing so, Princess, yet the Dragon did say that he has no opening statement to make, yes?”

Merrin smiled, and I do believe it was sincere. The ghost of a smile crossed Marc’s face as well. They were kindred spirits in one small way; they both enjoyed this sort of verbal jousting match. “To answer your points, yes, the People of Ch’in can send one of their Great-ships to the shores of Terre d’Ange at will. Your estranged half-brothers and sisters are having a much more difficult time reaching the fabled land of their ancestors.” Merrin pursed his lips philosophically. “It hardly seems fair, does it? As to the second point … or rather, the _insinuation_ that I or my mate could have done something to smooth the way for them. That is also true, for myself in particular. I won’t bore you with details of my sleep-patterns, and it would be a poor excuse in any case. The truth is, I am _not_ omniscient, despite what any of you may have assumed. I do not have the ability to be everywhere at once, I cannot see everywhere at once, and I cannot hold the hands of all of our people even when they are facing great difficulties. Nor would I want to. People cannot grow, they can’t improve themselves, if they are being kept too closely …” He turned to glance at Sushulana. “That is why we had to do our service in secret, after all. It was not our choice, but it was the wise thing to do.”

She rose to meet him as he walked back to his chair, and they clasped fore-arms for a moment. “It was the _right_  thing to do” she assured him, and watched him sit down again without looking back at Marc. The fond glint in her eye was gone when she turned to face the Jurist. In that fine dress of her’s, she still had a fighter’s poise. Feet shoulder-width apart with knees slightly bent, she placed her right hand on her hip and faced him at a slight angle. Her head lowered just enough so that she was staring at him through the fringes of her eyebrows. One corner of her mouth was turned up, the barest suggestion of a smile.

“Alright then, shall we begin?”


	58. Chapter 58

59

 

 

Marc d’Uxelles did not appear to be taken aback by her attitude, outwardly, but I did have to wonder if she had made him fall back on his stilted, arcaic Jurist’s forms when he asked; “Sushulana Evalarian vin Treewater, are you of sound mind and body?”

Sushulana seemed perplexed for a moment. “My …? Well, my body makes all sorts of sounds, were you referring to something in particular?”

Much of the audience, and Bao, exploded into startled laughter.

With room for so many people, half of the spectators were commoners that had won another lottery for the most part. Some of the seats were filled by folk that had been nominated by their neighborhoods, such as men that had rescued children from a burning building or a woman that had given her home over to destitute survivors of a shipwreck. The other half were peers of the realm, many of whom had wrangled a seat for their spouse or a favored heir. Several Priests of every major sect were present, my Father included… and unless I am very much mistaken, the so was the Dowayne of every House on Mont Nuit.

It was the commoners that responded to Sushulana’s jest with hearty laughter. I could not help smiling, and Desiree was also clearly amused, yet Lianne was horrified and Merrin had brought his hand up to cover the lower half of his face. King Thierry looked naught but surprised, his reaction limited to raised eyebrows. Whatever gains Sushulana had made with the common folk came with the danger of alienating the Nobility, and that was something we simply could not afford.

Sushulana was smiling at her own jest, she must have sensed Merrin’s discomfort; she turned to wink at him. He did not return the wink or move his hand, but his eyes crinkled as he smiled and gazed upon her with love and encouragement. When she turned back to face Marc again, he had already done an about-face and returned to his table, bent over and engaging his aides in another whispered conversation. It was rude and dismissive, and it would have made our opposition look boorish and defeated at the outset, were it not for the fact that the Barron had risen at a signal from Marc and was stalking towards Sushulana with a question already on his lips. “How shall I address you, dear Lady? Titles _do_  matter in such august surroundings, would you not agree?”

The hand-off between Jurist and Barron had been a fine display of teamwork, and it occurred to me that their’s was a long-standing and professional association. It also occurred to me that we, a loose association of friends, might be out of our depth in this setting.

Sushulana did not seem to think so. “I rather like what you just said, why don’t we stick with that for now?”

“What did I say?”

“Lady… _dear_ Lady was what you actually said. I like that, too, so feel free to keep doing that.” She paused just long enough for the Barron to start to open his mouth before adding. “As long as you are nice about it.”

He smiled, “You are the combative one, aren’t you? Do you enjoy Hunting?”

“Not as much as you would think, and that goes for either question.” Sushulana was not going to let anything slip by with any implied consent. “I don’t hunt at all these days, and neither does Merrin. We enjoy fishing much more.”

“Fishing?” Barron de Braux grinned, disbelieving, until the hawk-faced woman on his staff stole up behind him and whispered over his shoulders. “Oh yes, the business with the poles and the faux flies.” He must have thought she meant the sort of fishing that was done by rough and salty men with nets. “I am afraid that this pastime of yours has never become very popular in this country,” another whisper, making him ask “Truly? I see… it is fairly widespread in Alba, you may be interested to know. Have you been spending much time there?”

“None, only my recent visit there as a guest of Lady Moirin. How interesting…”

And so it went for half an hour more, banter and easy questions that allowed Sushulana to relax. The Barron took several steps closer while Sushulana held her ground, standing between a couple of tables. They both appeared to become more friendly towards each other, until the Barron asked “What was your mother’s name?”

“Rhiannon.” Sushulana answered easily enough, yet her body went stiff and her ears seemed to lay a bit more flatly on her head, as would the ears of a threatened animal.  
Barron de Braux went on as if he had not noticed. "Thank you, and my condolences, she must have been a courageous woman, like yourself.”

“I do my best to follow her example.”

She was not being taken in by his tact, so the Barron pressed on in a surprising direction. “And what of her family? Surely you must have paid them a visit at some point-“

“Gone.”

Barron de Braux hesitated, the sharp one-word answer was not what he had expected. “Ah… yes, your world is gone, and once again you have my condolences. However, I was referring to the many years, centuries you were living there. Surely, you must have been curious?”

“Not so much as you would think. I avoided the place, the whole region in fact. My first husband persuaded me to go there, for our honeymoon I think you could call it. He could be very persuasive,” she smiled at the empty space between her and the Barron, “and so idealistic. I certainly was _not_ that way at the time… idealistic I mean, or innocent like he was. Anyhow, there was nobody left, just my very old Aunt… who was delighted to meet me. When I say old, I mean ancient, she had been clinging to life to fend off various claimants and bankers in the hopes that a living hier would turn up. I was greeted in the very last way I imagined possible after the way my mother had been run off, and that dear old woman passed away a few months later. Once my bloodline was confirmed, she relaxed her grip on this life, and just slipped away one night.” She paused, and then added; “Damnit.”

I was glad when the Barron asked the question that was on my own lips. “I see, and what of the rest of them?”

“Dead, missing, killed in some warrior duel or just vanished. Seemed like sending us away brought a curse down on them, but honestly I have to wonder if it wasn’t the luck of the gods that got me out of that place. Not that it wasn’t hideous, what happened and all, but… the veneer of civilization can mask some of the worst predators, can’t it?”

The Barron huffed. “That all depends on what you mean by predator, and what you mean by civilization. What sort-“

“Barron, if you please?” the only person at our table with the rank to interrupt a Barron rose from her seat. The Princess was imploring… not the Barron so much as Sushulana, and she continued; “If you please, Lady Sushulana… would we hear something of your world, your _home_ , that is not dark and dreadful? I mean to say, there must have been something…”

Sushulana curtsied to the Barron as she shook with silent laughter. She managed to stifle her humor and have a more respectful look on her face when she turned around. “Oh yes, Desiree, a great many things were wonderful there, and some of the most incredible things you could think of doing here were commonplace there. My abilities didn’t make me an object of fear on Narva, they made me useful… _helpful_. And …” She snapped her fingers and nodded to herself. “I think I know just the thing.”  
With a brief glance at Merrin, she began to tell us all something that I don’t even think he knew of. “The family estate was a Vineyard, a large one with several specialties instead of just one. It filled a valley that was curiously rounded, like a shallow soup-bowl, and just as circular. I supposed it would have filled with water were it not for an underground river. Some of the lowest levels were reserved for the latest-growing grapes, in the hopes that we could make Ice-Wine that year. That is something we could only get when the first frost of the year hit before the grapes started to turn, and it worked like this;”

There was no way for her to face in all directions at once, any way she went would involve turning her back to the King, the Princess, the Barron or the audience. Sushulana walked as she told her little story, facing all ways at various times as she pantomimed what she was talking about.

“When the frost hit, always in the wee hours of the morning, a large bell at the bottom of the valley would start ringing. At that signal, everyone in the household tumbled right out of bed and took off running in their nightclothes for the vines with baskets in hand and with bare feet as likely as not. There wasn’t a moment to lose, as soon as the Sun hit the grapes, they would be ruined, so we had to pick them and get them into the vats in the shed or under some sort of cover before dawn. So there we all were, scampering around in the torch-light, calling out to each other and laughing or making whatever noise we could to avoid bumping into each other in the dark. And I do mean _all_ of us, stablehands, Maids and even the mistress of the house. Cut the largest bunch within reach, drop it into the basket, cover it and off you go… I still don’t know if we really needed to use silver shears or not, but what we ended up with in the end was worth the effort. The ice crystals change the fruit, you see, it becomes sharp and much more flavorful. A bit heavier, perhaps, but it not something to be guzzled.”

“Thank you,” the Princess breathed softly. “That was so sweet.”

Sushulana stood there for a moment, lost in her thoughts as she nodded to Desiree absently. She grinned at the Barron and asked “What else would you like to know?”

“A great deal. Most especially about your homeland, your activities there, and that goes for Merrin as well. As we already know from Sidonie’s writing about your early days and just a little about your activities before you came here, there is the vast gap of what came between. How did your comradeship come to be, and what were all these wars all about-“

“No!” Desiree was just settling herself back in her chair when Lianne Tremaine leapt to her feet and shouted, rather undiplomatically, and looked to the King. He alone among us was not startled by his historian’s outburst. “No, let us NOT go down that path.”

If the Barron looked angry, Sushulana was dismayed. Before she could protest, the King rose and took a half-step towards her. “I am afraid I must agree.” They had already discussed it, the two of them. “We have days, not _weeks_ , to cover this subject. Moreover, this could lead to an endless round of ‘he said/she said’, even in the literal sense. I am sorry, Lady Sushulana, but this does appear to be headed for a contest of adversaries as much as it is a process of discovery. Now, please,” he held up a hand as she opened her mouth to protest, “follow me here. Do you have any proof of anything you could say about your homeland, anything at all besides your memory and that of Merrin’s?” She shook her head and shrugged, hands held palms outwards. “Then let us try to avoid some pitfalls here. I am sure that your shared history is entertaining and educational, but it could also be seen as self-serving. _Most_ importantly, those questioning you could misread what you are saying and be lead to conclusions that are far from what you are trying to communicate. Any attempt you make to correct them could be seen as hearsay, at best, and lead to more statements that would be easy to misinterpret. Do you understand, now?”

Sushulana’s mouth had been working as Thierry spoke, soundlessly forming the word ‘but… but … but' as well as ‘why?’ at the end. It was a sad thing to see, even if I understood exactly what the King meant, and the wisdom of it. I followed her glance at Merrin in time to see him nod grimly at her. He also understood, and had no desire to see an endless round of circular arguments dominate the proceedings. Sushulana sighed and looked at the floor as she said “I hear you, your Highness.”

“Very good, perhaps now would be a good time to adjourn for lunch.”

We all rose, and for all concerned it seemed that the King’s ruling had been against Sushulana’s interests. She certainly did not seem happy about it, and I sympathized until Bao nudged my shoulder and pointed at the opposition, hand low and tight to his body. The Barron was already leaving with his ‘Ladies’, and Marc d’Uxelles had turned away from the crowd but was still visible to me… his face seething with a rage that he could barely contain.


	59. Chapter 59

60

 

 

Much of that afternoon was taken up by Bao and I, where we gave our testimony about our recently remembered adventures with Rilrae and her parents. I aroused more laughter than I had anticipated, as did Bao when he glared at the scribes in the Gallery when they asked for a more complete description of one of Rilrae’s rescues. They gasped and Sushulana closed her eyes as I described her chastisement of Rilrae at our first meeting, so Bao stood to explain it from his point of view, and emphasized Sushulana’s resourcefulness. Merrin also closed his eyes, smiling, as we described the flight over the Abode of the Gods and his destruction of Shahrukh’s Citadel.

By the time we were done with our story, draining several pitchers of water and one of wine while doing so, I think we had instilled a degree of wanderlust in a good many of my father’s people.

The King thanked us and began questioning our party himself. “What, may I ask, is the current status of this island, Socotra?”

“Under new management.” Merrin smiled more broadly. “My daughter has taken a particular interest in the preservation of a certain mountain valley. The island’s native dwellers are now guaranteed protection from the pirates that used to abuse them… not that any anchorages remain for any intruders to use.”

“So, it is your’s now?”

“Not in any technical reliable sense of the word. They are ‘protected’ mainly by forts that we had built for them. In exchange, they respect our desire to keep the mountains free of human habitation. A mutually beneficial arrangement between free peoples.”

“Very good. Now that we know that your … mate, can project an image of your map of the world, I would like you both to indulge me, and show us all exactly what this world of ours truly looks like. I would especially like to see what your part of it looks like. This Nova Angelica of yours.”

“Ours.” Merrin amended, and nodded to the eager Sushulana. The only place she could cast it where everyone could see it was the wall behind Thierry’s throne. He stood up and stepped down from the small platform it had been placed on to take a good look at it.

We had seen it before of course, Bao and I, and we were still struck with a sense of renewed awe. The scope and breadth of creation was on display before us, our whole world with it’s huge land-masses and even vaster oceans.

There was a collective intake of breath as the audience took it all in. Desiree stood and stepped up behind Sushulana, head and eyes going back and forth to find a reference point. “Where… ?”

The Elf outlined Terre d’Ange in silver. There was a different sort of reaction now, it looked so small, so insignificant. There was the massive continent to the south, where Phedre no Delaunay found the name of God. Over there was the whole sweep of Vralian and Tatar territory, Bhodistan and Ch’in beyond that. Terra Nova seemed to dwarf Europa, and then…

Sushulana also outlined the area that she and Merrin had settled, and even with the blurry and incomplete lines themselves, it appeared to be a gigantic territory. The _King_ said as much, and Merrin now took center stage.

“It certainly appears to be, doesn’t it? The truth of the matter is more complex, and perhaps disappointing to you all.” Facing the map with one hand on Sushulana’s shoulder, he had her subtly highlight various places as he spoke of them. “These three islands to the south are Faith, Hope, and Sidonia. They still make up the core of our realm. This small continent here,” it did not look small to me, “is almost entirely desert, populated by a few small bands of nomadic tribals who are very shy about making contact with us. We leave them alone, dealing with only the more adventurous among them, the ones daring to make contact with us, and always along this coastline here. We have a very light touch with them because they are simply too reasonable and kindly for any other approach to be palatable. This has not always been the case to the north of there.” A bewildering maze of islands were now highlighted. “We have been drawn into this area the way water is drawn into a low-lying bit of ground. Cannibals and Head-Hunters came into conflict with traders and explorers from our lands, and things had to be settled.”

“By force of arms?” The Barron asked.

“In some cases, yes.” Merrin admitted.

“Our direct involvement was not always needed, nor possible.” Sushulana now took over. “We have taught our people how to swiftly resolve these conflicts, decisively, and once it is over to let it _be_  over with. We don’t tolerate long, drawn-out wars that feed on themselves and create generations of enmity. You see, warfare is the result of misunderstanding more often than not, and it is also a disagreement between two people’s about their relative strength. War ends when these are resolved. A confrontation resulting in combat is best resolved by a battle that occurs in broad daylight, visible to as many people as possible, that leads to a result that cannot be lied about or re-interpreted later by myth-makers. This was exactly how your ancestors won at Troyes Mont, and ended the Skaldi threat to this very day. The understanding between your peoples was earned at great cost, however the benefit of the peace bought at that cost has been of immense benefit to millions of lives since then.”

The Barron stood there with one hand massaging the back of his neck, and the other tucked into the front of his tunic. He studied the map, and Sushulana. “One could say you are enamored of war, that you _like_  it… but there is something more to it than that, isn’t there?”

“It isn’t a matter of liking it or not liking it. To me, war is a sacred undertaking that is too important to be approached with anything but the utmost care. Too much is at stake, too many lives are lost with the slightest mistakes, and too much depends on the future of the people you are supposed to be fighting for. It is the most deadly and serious undertaking imaginable. As to your point, well, if there weren’t so many people that ‘like’ it, it would never happen at all, now would it?”

“Schoolteacher indeed.” the Barron said as he gave her a courtly bow and stepped back to his seat.

Merrin resumed his part. “There has been far more to it than that. What truly draws and keeps us there is the needs of the people there. What they want from us is what they call ‘the knowing and the doing of things’. No banners of ours fly in most of this area, yet trade and cultural exchange put them in our orbit, you could say. West and north of that are places we have some contact with but no formal arrangements. Jawa…” Sushulana illuminated a long, blocky island, and then the much larger island to the north and a complicated string of islands father north and eastwards. “… yes, Jawa has a sophisticated culture, highly organized society and a dense population. However, they are often in conflict with each other. We have managed to remain uninvolved, and have left the other places you see here alone as well. There simply aren’t enough of us to have any affect on them, and there are competing influences there that we would rather avoid.”

“Ch’in?”

“Indeed. As for them,” Sushulana drew our attention to the scattering of tiny islands to the east, “our sea-faring folk have made contact with, and brought about good ties with, the few people living in this ocean. There was an interesting discovery made here;” A chain of substantial islands in the center of that vast ocean was highlighted, this time in red. “The Ch’in beat us there, and found a harbor able to shelter their Greatships. They have been there for several generations, and have organized it as a province of their own. They leave us alone as we do the same for them, naturally. They are also disinterested in the other isles of this ocean.”

“Oh?” Bao asked, skeptically. “And what makes you say that?”

“There is the issue of that bit of Vralia that came into their hands recently. They will have to settle it with their own people if they wish to retain it. There is also something else, if you would, dear one?”

Sushulana reoriented the map. To show a globe as a flat map, she had had to divide it, and had done so at the east end of that vast ocean. Now we scrolled it over so that it was centered on that ocean.

“Now, as you can see, these islands of their’s are centrally located, and could serve as a staging ground for -“

“Terra Nova!” the King gasped.

“Yes. They would know exactly where it is, if they have been making good use of their excellent ships. Their entry into events taking place there is only a matter of time, in all probability.”

For the first time, the noise from the audience was threatening to distract us from what was being revealed on the stage, and Princess Desiree had to hold up both hands to quiet them.

Marc d’Uxelles rose and approached the map. “And you seek to involve us in all this?”

Merrin turned to him with a perplexed look. “No… why would you think that? We ourselves are not involved in the affairs of Ch’in, nor would we wish to be.”

“You certainly have been, thanks to your daughter!” Merrin glared at Marc, who glared right back and continued. “You seek union, not only for yourselves, but this realm of yours wishes to be part of Terre d’Ange. Your Highness, doesn’t this seem to be a bit… _much_?”

The King nodded to the map and looked at Merrin. Thierry was not unfriendly, perhaps a little wry when he said; “Your realm does appear to be overwhelming, somewhat.”

  
“The size of it, perhaps. You should know that the bulk of it is either wasteland or water, with very pleasant bits scattered here and there. The total population does not amount to a quarter of what you have here in this Kingdom.”

That statement eliminated the panic and made the idea of union more palatable to the peers in the audience. However, the next thing that Marc said made me realize that for some people nothing about this would ever be good enough.

“Mongrels.”

Sushulana rounded on him with wide eyes and teeth bared in a viciously unfriendly smile. I think that if she had worn any weapons that day, she would have had one in her hand.

For his part, Merrin made no move to restrain her. He folded his hands over his chest and looked back at the map. “Were you referring to our children, perchance, Justicar?”

None save Bao and I had seen them angry before, and only those who had read Sidonie’s book knew that the word ‘Justicar’ referred to a Hammer with a blindfold trapped over it. The result was still chilling.

Marc d’Uxelles took a step back, and I believe that it was pure theatrics on his part. He looked as if he wanted a good fight, and this was _his_ kind of battle. He wanted to sound defiant, but it came out in a more bellicose way. “YOUR children? If only it was that simple! I am speaking of tens of thousands of appropriated d’Angeline people whose descendants have been mixing with hundreds of thousands of these islanders and tribal nomads of yours. This-“

“The results have been very pleasing, as you will soon find out.” Merrin spoke with a distant, resonating voice, still facing the map. “And they can make their case for themselves, as they soon will. I thought we had agreed on that.”

“Indeed we have.” Thierry said quickly. “Marc d’Uxelles, you suddenly give the impression that you would have sided with Benedicte de la Courcel and Melisande Sharizai against my ancestor Queen Ysandre. I hope that you don’t mean to do _that_.”

Realizing that he had overstepped, and badly, Marc d’Uxelles apologized profusely to all concerned. Sushulana was having none of it and walked back towards her seat while he was speaking to her. He did not like that, and spat words at her back; “And how would you be treating _me_  if our surroundings were not so august?”

She whirled. “How would you like to find out?” I saw Merrin flinch, but he did not turn around as Sushulana continued; “There is a certain place that I have never been, yet I always wanted to have a look for myself. They call it the Cockerel, I’m sure you know where to find it.”

 

“That was certainly a day of mixed blessings.” Bao observed as the proceedings were adjourned for the day.

The Princess was wringing her hands, a nervous gesture that must have come from her Father’s side of the family. “But… I can’t go with you there!”

“Damn right you can’t!” Merrin was not enjoying what Sushulana had set them up for. “Don’t you realized what kind of mob is going to turn out once word of this gets out. In an hour, we won’t be able to get a table there,” and he put special emphasis on these words; “even if we wanted to.”

“That is why I am leaving immediately.” Sushulana curtsied and looked to Bao and I. “Have you ever seen it? Please be our guests, there may even be the kind of fun in the streets that Phedre used to describe. Now, where did your Father go? I have some work to do with him in that neighborhood before we go…”

“Mixed indeed.” I whispered to Bao. “And it appears that it isn’t over yet.”


	60. Chapter 60

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know I screwed up my spelling of "Noblise oblige" ... but I have no idea how.

61

 

 

The Cockerel was not what it had been over a century before, yet what truly is?

It’s fame had ensured a steady stream of customers, thus guaranteeing its preservation, if not good management. Only one original wall remained, thanks to a fire and two rebuilding efforts. A new facing of stone had saved it when a neighboring building had burnt to the ground, and care had been taken to ensure the exterior it was a jumble of miss-matched stones who’s colors clashed as would a gathering of garishly dressed Tsingano.

Inside, the dark and heavy old wood of the flooring and bar itself had been preserved, and I like to think that once one of the Heroes of old had made their way inside, they would have felt right at home.

I wasn’t sure how I felt being there, and I am still wondering. We did not have much opportunity to soak up the atmosphere of the place.

We arrived in a closed carriage that started slowing down when we were still a block away, telling us how large the crowd had grown already, and this was just after sunset. We were recognized when we left the carriage, of course, and the crowd cheered when Bao flourished his staff with an overhead twirl. The aggressive twirl also cleared the crowd between us and the door.

Inside we were surprised to find no City guards, only Merrin seated at a table near the front giving the nod to a man with the thickest arms I have ever seen, allowing us passage inside. He stood to greet us; “Perfect timing, won’t you join us?”

‘Us’ he said, yet Sushulana was nowhere to be seen. His choice of a table was also unusual, not only close to the door but also the one that was right next to a bay window facing the street. Merrin took the seat that allowed him to see, and be seen by, the people inside as well as outside. When someone in the crowd on the street did something particularly entertaining, he would smile and lift his glass to them.

I felt a bit exposed as Bao and I took seats on either side of him, Bao with his back to the window. “I would have thought that Sushulana would have wanted to sit somewhere else, with her chair to the wall with a table and closer to the back door than the front one.”

Merrin patted the table as he answered me. “She probably would. However, since this is something she saw fit to drag us all into without asking a single one of us and she has yet to make an appearance…” He shrugged and glanced at the crowd outside. “She can indulge me in my own observance of Noblise oblige. Does it bother you, Moirin? I’m afraid that there are no other tables, unless an exchange can be made. Heh, the bar has been packed since before I arrived-“

“No!” I said, perhaps too quickly. I had not meant to interrupt Merrin, his manner or speaking could be rather languorous. “Where is Sushulana, still with my Father?”

“No, they came and left already. Your father, a grand gentleman by the way, has urgent business with his staff and his superiors concerning this recent discovery in his basement. Sushulana insisted on inspecting this building… from the crawl-space under the porch to the… yea Gods, she is in the attic! I was hoping she would have returned by now.”

Bao started to rise, I leapt to my feet and said “I will see to it. White wine for me, and something light to go with it, please.”

I found her on the staircase, just coming down. Sushulana had indeed been in every crawlspace and corner of the building she could get into, she was covered with various kinds of dust and filth from head to toe. Had she been anyone else it might have been hard to recognize her. “Moirin! I’m glad you came, I wasn’t sure… what?”

“Don’t you _dare_ hug me!” I pointed at her hands, and the rest of her. “While it is wonderful to see that you are trying to be careful, you can’t go down there wearing cobwebs!”

“Oh… right, thanks! Stand back.” She cast a spell on herself, and I was able to see the effect first hand. The grim was erased and the dirt fell from her in a cascade that sparkled in the dim light. Her eyes lit up as she stood on her toes briefly, and I was able to see what she was wearing more clearly. Everything she had on was made of leather fringed with fur, even her boots, and she was armed with a variety of blades and her infamous folding staff. I have wore things that would have made me look nearly as militant, but never in this city.

“Are you certain-“

“As much as I ever am!” She linked arms with me and we quick-stepped our way down the stairs and into the main room. Most of the people in the room raised a drink and cheered, we barely paused as Sushulana lead me back to our table. “Hello again.” She called out to our men and the room in general. To Merrin, she said in a lower voice; “Ah, and **_I_** am supposed to be the show-off in the family?”

Before she could sit down, the crowd outside the window went wild. They shouted and waved to her, and a chant began that we could barely make out; “Show us, show us, show us!”

She shook her head at them, saying “ ‘show’ WHAT?” They could not hear her, of course, and no clarification was made. Sushulana drew her scimitar and played with it for a moment. Bao flinched when it she balanced point-up it on the open palm of her hand, and then flipped it around to catch the sharp end between her thumb and two fingers.

It was a good trick, but not what the rowdy and rough-edged people of Night’s Doorstep wanted to see. One young woman danced up the window and lifted her skirts as she spun around. She stopped with her bared posterior aimed at Sushulana, and wiggled her pert cheeks at the Elf. She laughed and threw Sushulana a challenging smile over her shoulder.

Sushulana rolled her eyes, and she dropped the scimitar straight into it’s sheath. I did not know how she would respond, and she did not look at Merrin before making her decision. Sushulana bent forward, winking at the woman mooning her, kissed the pane of glass that lined up most closely with those dancing ass-cheeks.

The cheer that went up was like thunder, and we may as well have left our money at home the night.

 

“What lovely folk the d’Angeline are. Mean people would have wanted to see my brand.” Sushulana’s eyes became distant and a little timeless as she sat down. “Mean people _have_ , come to think of it.”

Our wine and food arrived, I blinked at the marinated squid with garlic and a bed of greens, Caerdicci-style, that was set down in front of me. The Cockerel had indeed changed over the years, and perhaps not as much as I thought. My dish and all the other fancy items were served cold. If you wanted something hot you had two choices; the stew of the day or a spiced concoction based on rum. Sushulana helped herself to both of those, unmindful of the fact that none of the rest of us were interested in either.

Our repast was interrupted by Sister Elysium herself.

The faded remnants of and Adept’s finery clung to her the way the last of an old coat of paint clings to a weather-beaten building. Her hair had either gone white with age or been dyed that way, and it was hard to tell which because she had a face that seemed to hover between middle age and the next thing. What set her apart from merely being a fallen ex-Adept was a quasi-mystical bearing, and certain accessories. She wore Vralian boots, an Akkadian cloak and bangles that looked like cheap imitations of Hellenic artifacts to me. Rumor had it that she had been to the Temenos, and that the experience had left her somewhat “touched”. The only factual things I was able to discover about her were that no House or Temple would acknowledge that she had ever been among them, and that she had first been noticed in the city ten years ago. ’Sister’ Elysium was known for ministering to the poor with slap-dash medical aid, wild tirades against about corruption, and for being a walking encyclopedia of rumors and information on what was going on in Night’s Doorstep.

The crowd outside had gone quiet, yet I did not notice that until Merrin looked up from his Sardines and Olive-bread to glare at the man at the door. When I turned to look, that man was holding his hands out and backing away, nodding to the crowd outside. All eyes were on Sister Elysium as she swept past him and walked, hobbling slightly, straight for our table.

Bao was not happy with me. He was watching for threats coming from inside the room, and I should have been watching what was going on outside. It had been a long time since our days of peril, I was no longer as alert as I once was. To make up for my lapse, I stood up and met Sister Elysium before she could reach the table. “We are trying to enjoy ourselves, and have a little time away from things. You’d not be trying to make that difficult for us, would you?”

Out of the corner if my eye, I saw Phaing smirk. She was still hunched over her bowl of stew, putting on an act of being oblivious to what was going on behind her back. My sense of danger might not be what it once was, yet I could still feel her tense up, making herself ready for instant action.

“Difficult?” This ’sister’ had a strange voice, raspy and yet with a sing-song quality that was hard to ignore. And instead of making a friendly-sounding denial and attempting to sit with us, she confronted me with dreamy sarcasm; “And what, Moirin of Alba, could possibly make things _difficult_  for creatures such as these?” She gestured at the table, wobbling slightly so that it would appear unintentional when her hand brushed the top of Sushulana’s head. “They could kill us all with a word, or perhaps even with a thought, yes?”

“No.” Merrin passed a napkin over his lips as he addressed her actually, barely looking her way as he reached for the wine. “There is rather more to it than that. And since we have the same Gods, t’would be a singularly grotesque thing to do on our part, would it not?”

“Only if they truly ARE your gods-“

Sushulana bolted to her feet and whirled to confront Sister Elysium. “You were wrong about the truth of our existence and what we are, our very _being_  makes you wrong in a major way. The fact that you are still pushing your ignorance like this isn’t making you look very smart. It could make people wonder what your motive is here, lady.”

Sister Elysium did not back down from Merrin and she wasn’t even going to flinch in the face of Sushulana’s anger. I looked again at her face, her eyes, and was taken aback by what I saw there. Or rather, what was missing. This woman wasn’t showing courage, but a lack of something essential, something that I could not name at the time.

The sister never bothered to answer the point the Elf had made. She didn’t even seem to be aware that the people in the room were favoring what Sushulana was saying. “You think you could be d’Angeline? You are not even human, no matter how you try to pretend you are. Carthaginians would make better people … oh, there aren’t any now, thanks to you, are there?”

The whole room as dead quiet at that, and the crowd outside the window did as well when Sushulana produced a wicked-looking dagger with a flick of her wrist. Merrin sat back with his arms crossed over his chest, his gaze flickering over the people observing us, both inside and outside the Tavern. She caught and held Sister Elysium’s attention with the shiny little blade, and purred like a Wildcat circling a henhouse. She pursed her lips as she looked the sister’s wretched attire; “Oh, look, a loose string.” She gingerly lifted the ragged edge of one trailing bit of fabric, and cut it free with such ease that the edge must have been razor-sharp. “You know, you really should be taking better care of yourself. Like, if you are serious about representing d’Angeline folk and your ideal of your own superiority an’ all. Oh, there’s another one, and another!” Sushulana continued trimming away at Sister Elysium’s rags, and flashed her a predatory grin that the most hardened thug watching from the street must have admired.

But in that instant, it was Sushulana who noticed the lack of something in that sister’s eyes, and it made her hesitate.

“Is this how you dominated our heroes of old? You will overshadow them, make their stories your own?” Sister Elysium sneered, stepping into Sushulana’s knife a few inches as if she wanted to be cut by it.

The Elf raised her blade as if she meant to slice Sister Elysium with it, and Bao shifted his seat to bring his staff in between them. Instead, Sushulana threw the knife into the floorboards, sticking it there while she vented cold rage in Sister Elysium’s face. “What are you saying, that we reduced the role of the Heroes of old to… what? _Observers_? Are you really so obtuse? We were a _problem_ for them, a huge problem in the form of a couple of lost souls. Instead of just battling evil magicians or rampaging armies, they also had to SAVE us… we would have gone mad and died long ago if it weren’t for them. You wanna make it look as if we were trying to upstage them or something, and then blame it on us for telling you the wrong story! Fuck off, Miss trash-mouth, and take your delusions with you!”

Merrin stood at last, and nodded to the man at the door. “I take it that insulting the memory of our friends is sufficient provocation for you to remove this wench?”  
It was indeed, yet Siter Elysium wasn’t finished with her theatrics yet. She put her hands to her temples and appeared to swoon, falling towards Sushulana. The Elf side-stepped the woman and skipped back. This put her nearly in Bao’s lap, and in full view of the people outside, she made a show over her own, of checking her pockets as would anyone that feared they had brushed up against a pick-pocket.

They never made any actual contact, I had also had enough and my had shot out to push Sister Elysium back, away from our table. The harridan gave me a brief look, one of deep and soulless hatred, and then she sneered as she dipped into a curtsy meant to mock our standing before she was finally removed from the room.

Sushulana took my arm in her hand and kissed my hand before she flounced back into her seat. Quickly shrugging the whole thing off. “Can we call that a win?”

Merrin laughed. “Given the audience, I would say so…. what is it _now_?”

Sushulana had bounced up out of her seat already, and was looking at the floor. “That bitch… she stole my dagger!” She asked Bao; “Did you see where she went?”

“Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. What are you going to do, go running after her?”

Merrin laughed again and motioned for her to sit down. “Very well, a partial win then. That must have been what the curtsy was all about. Now, since Marc d’Uxelles won’t be paying us a visit to make the evening complete, I would like to talk about some more pressing business. We already have the loser classes on our side, thanks to my beloved here, but we need the upper classes now. Bao, Moirin, how would you suggest we gain their trust, and above all, their respect?”

 

We talked for hours, and when the crowd outside began to thin out we returned to the palace. Our children were already asleep there in an annex of Desiree’s chambers, and so we spent the night as well.

In the morning, there was a bit of a row. Nothing terrible, but any disturbance in the Royal wing was enough to wake us from our sleep and kick our hearts into a high state of alert. A few shouts in the hallway outside, swift footsteps and a knock at the door across the hall was all it took. I was quick enough to crack my own door open by the time the Princess had answered her own, and I clearly heard a servant say;

“Apologies your highness, but I thought you should know this right away; Sushulana has been arrested for the murder of Sister Elysium.”


	61. Chapter 61

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, this chapter was a doozy, as this month has been so far...
> 
> Happy to say that I have the next two weeks free,and I should be able to wrap this up by the end of the year.  
> ... which means that the final scene should be a Midwinter Ball, I reckon ;)

62

 

 

Less than an hour later, we were at the scene of the murder.

It had not been an easy exit from the Palace. Chaos reigned by the time we threw something on and went to the heart of the commotion. Of all the people swirling about, there were only two immovable masses in the center of the storm. Sushulana submitted to being held under guard in her guest room, but she firmly refused to surrender her rings. “You _know_  what they do, why would you want to make me defenseless?” Merrin was sitting in a corner of the same room, head in his hands and sweating profusely. Searching for the killer or a conspiracy, he had opened his mind to the city and was paying the price. Elua only knew how long he could continue with that.

“Go.” Princess Desiree told us. “See if there is anything you can find out there, before someone thinks of a reason to keep you here.”

Sound advice, we were able to be gone just a moment before the King’s entourage began to fill the hall. On our way to the carriages we happened to cross paths with Mabon. He had only just begun to give us a hearty greeting when he saw how upset and hasty we had become. Bao and I turned him around and linked arms with him. “We will explain on the way. This is one day you do not want to be in that Palace.”

We did not have all that much to explain. All we knew was where it happened, and how ludicrous the charges were. Given her abilities, if Sushulana had wanted to get away with such a crime, the ‘sister’ would simply have vanished, never to be seen or heard from again. I doubted that she would have bothered in the first place; half an hour after the confrontation she appeared to have forgotten about it in her typically mercurial manner. We filled the time the carriage required to reach our destination by telling Mabon about Sister Elysium’s appearance at the Cockerel.

“I was just there the night before.” Mabon shook his head ruefully, sad that he had missed the excitement.

The place where the crime had taken place had once been a warff and a center of commerce dating back to the days of Elua’s arrival. More modern facilities had been built since, and this part of the riverfront was now too shallow for large ships to approach. Over the centuries the warehouses had been converted to businesses, and then been replaced by residences for those who enjoyed a view of the river.

It was not a very enjoyable view on this day, there was a chilling mist everywhere and clouds overhead that wetted us with drizzle and kept the morning dim.  
A wall of onlookers prevented our carriage from coming any closer than half a block from our destination. Once we dismounted we could see that it was our arrival that interested them more than anything else going on here, although how they could possibly have known we were coming…

“Ah, there you are, at last.” Balthasar Sharizai called out to us from the other side of the crowd. He spoke to a couple of Guards behind him, who quickly began to make a path through the gathering for us.

“Our guide!” Mabon said cheerfully, making Bao and I exchange heavy glances. Once our other business had been attended to, we really had to take a closer interest in what our fellow Maghuin Dhonn were up to. This understanding, along with seeing that Balthazar had arrived here first, must have put a skeptical look in our eyes. Balthazar returned it with an expression of long-suffering and unjustly put-upon friendship.

“I hope you have not had too sumptuous a Breakfast. It is not a pretty sight.”

“We had no breakfast at all.” Bao groused. “It is never a pretty sight when people die, as you and I both know very well. What is so awful this time… and how did you get here before we did?”

“You would be more surprised if I had come last, would you not?” A spark of his family’s mischievous spirit lite Balthazar’s face as he turned his head. “Please meet Sargent Besson of the City Watch.”

Stouter and darker than the typical d’Angeline, Besson recognized us as easily as the onlookers had, yet he did not draw himself up into a formal pose or waste any time on courtesies. “This way, please.”

A tarp had been thrown over the body. “We did that as soon as people started gathering.” Besson continued. “I have seen worse, especially at the mills when something goes wrong, but this is disturbing in it’s own way.” He looked at all of our faces, his eyes lingering on mine. “I know who you are, and I know you have been to a war or two. But this isn’t like that…”

I shook my head and cut him off. “Whatever it is, we need to see it. Don’t worry about me, I have seen more than you can imagine.”

Moirin mac Fianche is going to be something of a fool until the day I die, one would suppose.

Sister Elysium lay on her side, twisted and with her head towards the river. A look of fear and pain was frozen on her dead-white face, and the left side of her throat had been gouged open. What made this disturbing, as Beson had put it, were the numerous other wounds. The dead woman’s cheeks had been slashed, one of her ears was missing entirely, there were cuts on her left arm and right leg, and one of her feet were bare to display a couple of broken toes.

I had to look away. Only when I had, did I think to reach for Bao’s hand. The wound to the neck was what had killed Sister Elysium, as had been the case with Cuci. Bao was not thinking of that, much to my relief he looked at me with concern but no darkness hovering about him. “It may have been done with her knife, but it wasn’t Sushulana.”

I knew he had to be right. The killer had toyed with this victim, brutally, but there was also something sloppy about how it had been done. Could Marc d'Uxelles have hired someone to do this, or could the Barron have done it himself? No, again, I knew  _that_ could not be right, Merrin would be all over them as soon as he sniffed out the truth.

Without looking at the sad, poor remains of Sister Elysium, I asked Besson; “How long ago did this happen?”

“Hard to say, exactly. The watchman that found her like this says it was about two hours before dawn. It is difficult to say how long before that she might have died, I encourage my men to make random patrols, never approaching the same area the same way twice. He may have passed within a block of here several times and been none the wiser as he turned the corner down some other street.”

“A sound way to deter crime.” Balthazar scanned the row of townhouses. “I suppose it goes without saying that nobody you have spoken to here saw or heard anything out of place last night?”

“No sir, not a one. The people here are generally indoors by midnight, and so it probably happened after that time… unless one of them did it.”

Balthazar shook his head. “I don’t see any reason why middling-class merchants and the like would care much about some lunatic from Night’s Doorstep, unless she threatened them with that dagger she stole. You didn’t find that item, did you.”

“No, nor anything else, including a blood-trail. What happened to this woman happened right here.”

Mabon had been pacing around, peering closely at the pavement and how Sister Elysium lay on it. Frustrated, turned to me. “I can’t help you here. If this were good, honest mud, or even turf, I might be able to find something. But all this stone,” he stamped on the cobblestones which I had much preferred to mud until that point, “this tells me nothing! Stone for walls, I can understand, but must it be everywhere?” Mabon walked away, dejected, to sit on the low wall at the river’s edge.

We all drifted apart a little, except for Balthazar brushing up to me and whispering the question; “You are certain _she_ didn’t do this?”

On my own, I had little to go by. A pair of meetings with Sushulana, and then the stress-free weeks we had recently spent together. However, I also had Sidonie’s testimony, and I felt I had come to know that hero of old a little better through that story as well. Queen Sidonie would never doubt Sushulana’s innocence in this, and so I gave Balthazar a firm nod.

Bao was pacing in a circle around the body, and called out to Besson. “Sargent, are there any wounds on this body that could not have been self-inflicted?”

What a grotesque question! Besson grunted, impressed that Bao could spot such details. “Only one, that stab to the throat. I don’t know of anyone that could find the resolve to do such a thing to themselves, and also twist the knife once inside the wound to finish the job. All the rest of this _could_  have been self-inflicted, and with the right hand wielding the knife, but for two things. First, if she did it to herself, where is the knife? Stolen, perhaps, yet there is a second thing.” He bent low over the body and turned the right hand. “Cuts along the the meat of the thumb, and these fingertips here… what we call defensive wounds, as if she tried to fend off the blade. This is a murder, not a suicide.”

The crowd’s interest had been piqued, and I considered asking Besson to send them back out of earshot. This time, my diadh-anam chilled me, letting me know that would be a bad idea, and I felt ashamed. Why would I even consider such a thing? Let them hear all they liked… so long as they understood it. Sushulana was innocent, she _had_  to be.

If we could not prove it, somehow, our reputations would be sullied forever.

I had faith, but it was being tested whenever I looked at the body. The point-end of that dagger had been driven into the left side of her throat, exactly as Sushulana had shown Sidonie on her ship, a century and a third ago. Anyone that had read that book would see it as a signature move unique to that Dark Elf, rather than this simply the most efficient way to work a blade. If someone had wanted to make it look as if Sushulana had done it, this would be the best way to do it… short of chopping all of Sister Elysium’s hands and feet off.

A chill hit me again, this one was different. I turned to see Bao staring at the same throat I had just been wondering about. There was something grim behind his eyes, a new sort of darkness that made me reach out to him. He looked at me, and they beyond me, over my shoulder at Mabon. Before I could ask Bao anything, he called out, “What have you got there?”

Mabon did not look so frustrated anymore, yet he was still seated on the wall. He was picking at the far edge of the stone wall, and coming up with something too small for me to see. He leaned back and looked back over his shoulder at the water without answering us, so we walked up to him. Balthazar joined us as Mabon turned back to us, and shrugged. “I found some fibers of some sort, around a rub-mark right here.”

“A rope?” I asked, feeling sudden hope. “Someone did this, then lowered themselves down into the water!”

“No.” Mabon said, gently, as if he hated to contradict me in front of others, especially those not of the Maghuin Dhonn. He held up what he had between his thumb and forefinger. “Not rope, just some cheap twine.”

Balthazar shook his head. “The level of the river is only about six feet below where we are standing. You would not need any rope to lower yourself down.”

"If not someone, then what about some _thing_?” Bao pondered.

“Same answer. If it really was a bit of twine that was used, it wasn’t something very heavy.”

Boa nodded, but his interest in this did not diminish. He glanced back over his shoulder at the body. “This is the closest part of the wall to where she died. I wonder…” He knelt and scrutinized the near side of the wall. “Yes, here it is.”

“What?” All that the rest of us could see was bare stone.

“See, this chip. Something hit it, something harder than the stone. A dagger made of good steel, perhaps.” He stood, looking back and forth at the body, the water, and the stone wall. “This makes me think of something from the theater. If we needed a prop of some sort whisked away from the stage, we would have a small string tied around it. Someone would jerk the string and away it went. Quickly, we found that the less time an object required to disappear, the less distracting it was for the audience.”

“Audience?” Balthazar asked, looking around. Besson was just within earshot, and he simply shrugged.

“I know.” I was more confused than I had been before. “This makes no sense. Why would the killer do anything but throw the blade if he wanted to get rid of it?” Taking a slow turn, I could see no earthy reason for any of this. “There was no place to hide, and no way to rig this as a trap. The way she was cut up before hand… what is it?”  
Balthazar’s eyes had gone wide, and he had clapped his hand over his mouth in a very un-Sharizai display of queasiness.

He was also staring straight at the dead body that had just been covered up again by one of Besson’s men. Besson himself was looking intently at Balthazar. He took two steps up to the nobleman. “Yes?” Balthazar blinked, gathered himself and hesitated. “Out with it! I know something just came together in your mind. In the name of justice, tell us what you know!”

Even a Peer, and even a Sharizai, was not immune to the imperative demands of an officer of the law. “She did this…” he said quietly, “… to _herself_?!”

I could not understand what he meant, but for a heartbeat the same ill look covered Besson’s face. He turned to this nearest man. “Fetch a rope and a grappling hook, or anything that will do to dredge this river nearest us, and hurry!” To the small crowd of lingering spectators he called out; “All of you are to stay exactly where you are! I require you to witness this.”

This made even less sense to me, but I felt a chill from Bao. Before I could turn to him, I felt his arm cover my shoulders. “Darling, get a hold of yourself, this is not going to be easy to hear.”

Mabon stood quickly, grimacing, as if he had just realized there was something unclean about the thing he had been sitting on.

“Bao, Balthazar, stop being so cryptic. What is it that has everyone so disturbed?” I was embarrassed that everyone but I had figured something important out. “What do you mean, ‘she did this to herself’? Clearly that isn’t possible.”

None of them spoke for a moment. By some accord, Balthazar took it upon himself to explain it to me. “Sister Elysium, or whatever her name may have been, was more insane than anyone seems to have realized. It was she that made all those cuts on her body, as we heard she could have done all that with a knife in her right hand.”

“But no, didn’t Besson say that nobody could stab themselves in the neck like that?”

“Yes… she had some help. But, it wasn’t anyone pulling the twine for her. That, at least, is my theory. She held the knife to her throat, and she threw something heavy… a rock, or a piece of iron or something of the sort. That heavy object was tied to the dagger. Once the twine was pulled taut by that heavy thing, the dagger would have been yanked as well. It went in point-first, and then was wrenched out leaving that wound, and slicing her hand as well as the weight sank. As it followed after, the dagger hit the wall. I know it sounds flimsy, but if we find the dagger and the weight, we will know the truth of it.”

And indeed, they did. While I tried to come to terms with the madness of it all, and also tried to avoid retching over the wall, an iron bar tied to Sushulana’s dagger was fished out of the water.

Horror, indeed, and even with my Mabon and Bao there to comfort me, it was still difficult for me to deal with this concept. This was Elua’s own city! How could anyone that claimed to follow his teaching even conceive of such a dreadful thing? Without a score of people there to witness the result of the dredging nobody would have ever believed it… I don’t think I myself would have _wished_  to believe it. The d’Angeline people would be shocked, the more pious they were the worse it would be for them… or so I thought.

Somewhat surprisingly, Besson was the only one to make a sensible comment on the matter; “We can only hope that this woman’s soul is safely in the arms of Elua himself right now, free of Earthly cares and being healed by true understanding at last.”

Bao snapped his fingers. “Someone should tell Merrin, before smoke starts coming out of his ears.”

***I already know. Thank you for your concerns. When we re-convene in the Theater, we will require some additional chairs, yes?***


	62. Chapter 62

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!  
> Just had to get one out for today, and I really HAVE to finish this by the end of the year.
> 
> Gonna be a busy New Years weekend...

While we were still at the waterfront, Merrin had sent his apologies for speaking into my mind, and also asked us to wait until Besson had sent word back to the palace himself before we returned. He also wanted us to bring Uncle Mabon and Balthazar Sharizai with us. Mabon was thrilled, Balthazar accepted it as his due, outwardly quite calm. I could tell he was just as excited as Mabon, if not more so. This would be his first chance to speak to them.

While the men discussed the effect the events of the morning would have on public opinion, I sat back and admired them. These three men had combined vastly different intellects to solve a strange puzzle, and made it look easy. What a wonderful thing it was to have such people in one’s life. Any mis-step along the path of my life would have deprived me of this; staying with the Snow Tiger in Ch’in, with Alexi in Vralia, or with Bao in Bhaktipur … all tempting in their own ways, and all would have lead me to a dead-end of sorts.

It was still early in the day when we returned to the palace, yet there was no question of resuming in the theater. I was disgusted, offended, and appalled by what I had seen. It was a relief to see that Merrin and Sushulana felt the same way, and it was curious to see Merrin had a wet towel draped over his head. Until I stopped her, Sushulana was pacing around wondering what she could have done differently the night before. Just after we arrived, one of our adversaries arrived to make it worse.

The jurist did not make it into the guest chambers, we only knew he was there because the King himself called out to him and made him wait outside the open door.

“They drove her to it!” Marc d’Uxelles exclaimed, his voice pitched to carry around the corner to us, making me more than angry, and feel a little Phaing-like myself. Sushulana herself winced, as if she feared it could well be true.

“If the simple fact of their existence could have that effect on any sane person, then don’t you think their part of the world would be a madhouse?”

“How do we know it _isn’t_ one?”

Marc’s remark allowed Sushulana to shake her doubts off, I could feel her doing it. She knew him for what he was now, and so did Thierry.

“Arguing from ignorance now, are we?” The King’s voice carried to us be virtue of the resonance that restraining his anger caused him. “I have had enough of you taking a purely adversarial role in this, not allowing yourself to see any possibility that the other side could be right about their case. This is not a trial, it is a hearing… as in allowing them to be _heard_. I want you to stop reaching for any little way to twist things around for your benefit. Take a step back, and I do mean that literally right now, and figuratively later on. Just an hour ago you were still crowing about how they must have killed her somehow, and now you are trying to say that this bizarre suicide must still be traced back to them somehow? The only connection between that so-called Sister and anyone in that room behind me is this; the dead woman barged in on them while they were having dinner. Then she went and killed herself in such a way as to frame them for the crime.” He took a deep breath, and went on in a softer tone. “Are you certain that you want to dwell on all of that, or bring it up at all when we re-convene tomorrow morning?”

He did not, and whatever Marc said next was too subdued for us to understand.

Thierry entered and surveyed our party, snapping his fingers to prevent us from bowing or greeting him with any formality, yet it did not stop Sushulana from stepping up to hug him. His stern look faded as he nodded to Bao, Mabon and Balthazar. “You gentlemen saved us quite the scandal, and in such a short time! I have only heard the basics from the messenger Lieutenant Besson sent us. The Princess is on her way now, once she arrives would you please tell us the full story?”

Desiree’ joined us a moment later, and we all sat down while the men enlightened the Royals. There had been a certain amount of luck involved, if Mabon had sat on the fibers instead of next to them… yet it had all worked out and there was little worry that Merrin and Sushulana would be tainted by what had happened, in the minds of most people.

It was still a wretched thing to contemplate, a sort of madness that should not happen in a place like the City of Elua.

“Are we really so frightening?” Sushulana asked softly. She sat between Desiree’ and myself, one of us holding each of her hands. Merrin pushed himself out of his chair, cast the towel aside and stalked about the room until he stood facing a window, staring out at the Palace grounds and the city beyond. It was depressing to see him not able to think clearly; nobody in the room should have stood before the King, even in an informal setting. Then again, he had been an Emperor, in a situation that we still knew very little about. “We became familiar with them, and gave them no opportunity to become familiar with us. We burst upon them like a thunderclap. All things considered, I believe they are taking this rather well, for the most part. But… yes … how _do_  we convince people not to fear us?”

“It isn’t you, it is what you can DO.” Balthazar said quickly. “And how helpless people feel in the face of it.”

“Your fault.” Sushulana whispered.

“What was that?” Thierry asked.

“If people feel weak and frightened, then they have only themselves to blame. You have that academy, you have access to my spells now, and the knowledge of the ages. What Lianne and her friends did was inevitable. There will be more of that, people trying to put their knowledge to use. Human nature demands that they try-“

“That nearly ended in disaster, twice over!” I was shocked that she would even bring that up. “Everyone in this room nearly died because of that, and if Lianne were in this room she would be the first to tell you what a mistake it was to even try.”

“Truly?” she looked around at all of us, lastly at the King again. “Carthage nearly brought this Kingdom to it’s knees, Darsanga nearly launched a crusade that would have wrecked civilization itself. And as for Cytheria, Ch’in and Socotra… the power of what you call magic when properly handled has been amply demonstrated.” She held up a hand. “Yes, I know that much of that was in service of evil plots that very fortunately failed. Yet, in how many of those instances, was the triumph of good make possible by other magics? Yes, I can do a great many things with my spells, and I can teach you how. Not everything I know involves death and destruction! Yes, I learned what I know to be better at the craft of war, but even war involves the making and doing of things, and many things that come into creation because of strife live on to make peace more livable. Even iron can be shaped by spells, would you like to know how?”

Sushulana was not done yet, she faced me, of all people. “People want to improve things, some of those people think big, they think on a continental scale. In Ch’in, you saw one kind of progress; one that involves monstrous weapons being produced on an industrial scale. That is one way, and the danger of that happening again somewhere else will always be present …” she turned to the King again. “Unless we provide a different path. There are other sorts of magic, harmless and helpful little things that are not a path to evil, they just are what they are. People … I know you have had some bad experiences in the past, but you could well have them again no matter what you do. I am not talking about defense or attack, I am talking about simple progress. Gradual, accomplishments built on previous accomplishments that have proven sound. Even on a world such as this, nothing stays the same forever. Honestly, why would you want them too? My children don’t want to just go through the same motions their parents are going through, why would you think _yours_  would want to?”

There was a moment of silence, broken by the sound of Merrin taking his seat again. “So, do you think you could repeat that again, in the theater tomorrow morning?”

“You can bet on it!” She dipped her head towards the King. “If it sounds as if it could be helpful.”

Thierry nodded, deeply thoughtful. “It may be more helpful to _us_ , than to you.” he stood, and so did we all. “Now, if you will excuse me, there are some matters before the throne that need attending to. I find myself looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.” Along with the Princess, he too his leave of us with a twinkle in his eye.

It may be crass of me, but when Sushulana had mentioned our children it had made me want to be with mine, rather than contemplate the future of whole continents. There was one more matter that had to be attended to before I could take my leave. To Merrin, I said; “We know we have your gratitude for clearing up what happened this morning, but there is one among us that could use your help in a more direct way than the rest of us.

Balthazar beamed, and put his hands together as he made a small bow to me.

“Oh” Merrin regarded our Sharizai friend curiously. “Something I can help YOU with? I’d thought that Mabon would be asking for my powers to help him find his wandering countrymen & women.”

Uncle Mabon rolled his eyes. “Ah, if only t’were that simple…”

“No, not your powers!” Balthazar corrected with some haste. Both I and Sushulana were staring at Mabon, both us surprised that my own people would have used the Twilight to evade him. “Your diplomatic experience is what we need here, your problem-solving ability at the political level.”

“I will do what I can, naturally. What seems to be the problem?”

“We Sharizai would like to rule our own province.”


	63. Chapter 63

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go, I think... might be a long one or it might have to be two, can't say yet.  
> Either way I will have one for you on New Years day that caps it all off.

64

 

 

The next morning, we gave our testimony about the death of Sister Elysium. I had arranged for the newly promoted Lt. Besson to be present, and there were a dozen witnesses to our investigation in the audience. Marc d’Uxelles heeded the King’s advice and did not have anything further to say about the matter. This took the Barron by surprise, and his questions gave Sushulana the opening to repeat what she had said in her apartment the day before. The revelation that she would share her spells was followed up by a demonstration of a sample of her more gentle and useful ones. The spell that carried messages was well received while the Cleaning spell caused one of the Barron’s companions to ask what such a spell could possibly have to do with warfare.

Sushulana bit down on her own laughter, and it could not have been easy, several veterans in the audience could not hold their own amusement back. She glanced at them, and seemed to feel bad for the woman being laughed at. Rather than have her own fun with one of our adversaries, she simply said; “Imagine yourself after a full day of marching through dusty roads, and rainfall, and then making camp in a muddy field. When outside the castle, a soldier’s life is a constant battle against grime and filth.”

She and the Barron appreciated the explanation, and the Barron grinned as he asked; “Could you turn someone into a frog?”

“A frog? I never tried that particular one, are you volunteering?” The Barron’s smile faded and he shrank ever so slightly back into his chair.

“No!” Desiree’ bolted from her chair and leapt to Sushulana’s side, and surprised us al by saying. “Do it to me! Turn _me_  into something!”

The King appeared to be speechless. He closed his mouth and could only shrug when both women turned to him seeking permission. Bao asked; “Is it safe?”

“Of course it is!” Sushulana rolled her eyes at him. “I wouldn’t consider it otherwise.”

Merrin stood and took center stage. “Here we have the crux of the matter. Sushulana, and she alone, is qualified to say if it is safe or not. There are none to say otherwise because there are none who _know_  how this sort of thing works. My mate is willing to share this with you, and that would include all the information you would need to make such a decision yourself. And with all due respect to you, my Sushulana, the more people who are qualified to make that decision, the more comfortable I would feel before seeing it done.”

“Oh!” Desiree’ nearly whined, “I wanted to be an Eagle! Just … for a moment.”

I and everyone else on the stage considered the matter to be over with, including Merrin. He was facing the audience poised to launch into the next subject, and Desiree’, looking resigned, turned toward her table. Without looking directly at her, Sushulana reached out and touched the back of Desiree’s neck.

The transformation was swift, and brought gasps from all of us, and a squawk from Desiree’. We were stunned to see her become an Eagle right before our eyes, but what _kind_  of Eagle! The colors were snowy white, a deep orange and russet-tipped wing & tail feathers. The most amazing part was the size of this animal, the top of it’s head was nearly level with Sushulana’s shoulders! This must be the fantastic bird of prey that they had told Imriel and Sidonie about during their visit.

Not just an animal, Desiree’ was still there, or in there, it was truly bizarre to see this great bird look down at itself, then up at Sushulana, then suddenly flap it’s wings to keep it’s balance. The terrible idea flashed through my mind that she could bat Sushulana aside like a rag doll and send the Elf crashing into the King on his throne.

Sushulana was quicker than my thoughts, she side-stepped and took hold of that wing, and an instant later Desiree’ was herself again, mostly. She stood there awestruck and still a little unsteady on her feet, her clothes and even her tiara intact an in place.

“I … I could SEE… so clearly!” She was so giddy that all her teeth showed when she smiled. “Was that real?”

Sushulana assured her that it was, as she guided Desiree’ to my table rather than her own. For myself, I was ready to scold them both. “I know you have this game going back and forth, but this is going too far! What would you have done if she had flown away?” I glanced at the skylight. “Up there?”

“She would have to learn how, first.” Sushulana handed Desiree’ off to me. “Even birds are not born knowing how to fly.”

Desiree blinked. “I want to learn how! I don’t mean fly, I want to know how to transform like that.”

I sighed. “That is a bit like saying you want to do surgery before you have even entered a school for Healers.” Sushulana nodded, and then gave me a curious look. “Rilrae told us how … involved, the learning process is when it comes to this.”

 

Merrin had not turned around. Staring patiently at the ceiling, he waited until we were silent. “There is another matter than has been brought to our attention, one I was asked to come up with an equitable solution for.” He looked down at the front row, where there were many Sharizai, of course. “The house of Morhban has ruled Kusheth province for centuries now. House Sharizai, arguably the second most famous and influential house in this kingdom, does not. This is a source of confusion for outsiders and newcomers to this land and causes people to wonder what the reason for this could be.”

The audience was dead silent, keen to hear Merrin doing what was most unexpected; he was engaging in politics before their opinion of him had been rendered. He was making a proposal, a suggestion really, and yet it was his first known foray into courtly intrigues. It was a forgone conclusion that Sushulana wanted no part in anything of this sort, Merrin’s indulgence in one of the d’Angeline people’s favorite pastime could go a long way to making him “fit in” with them. As perverse as that may sound, it was also true. It could also make him enemies, as well as friends. There were no members of the Morhban clan in the City of Elua on that day, but their supporters were present. These people and others that did not favor the Sharizai began to shift about uncomfortably.

Continuing with one hand tucked into the back of his belt, Merrin gestured to these people with his free hand. He spoke in a neutral, scholarly tone. “Those of us who know better understand that this was intended as a check on the power of the Sharizai, a way of balancing out their influence at home and abroad. In truth, the Morhban have rendered honorable service in that regard, and have done little to shake anyone’s confidence in their ability to manage a province efficiently. As much as the Sharizai have earned the right to rule in their own corner of this realm, the Morhban do not deserve to lose the title ‘Duc’.” Now it was the turn of the Sharizai to look uncomfortable, and send glances _my_  way. All but Balthazar and his great-aunt Celestine. “However, I must ask; at what cost? Just how much nervous tension has built up in that house over the years? How has this constant vigilance of their’s affected their personal lives, their marriages, what have the Morhban sacrificed along the way?

“And now that the Sharizai have proven themselves perfectly loyal and rendered such effective service to the crown, this arrangement is a relic of the past. What I propose is simple; the island of Kyrnos was added to this realm, and made a part of Eisande by default. Without accusing anyone of mis-management, the fact is that Kyrnos is not truly a part of that province in any but official terms, and there is much potential there that has gone under-utilized. It is a pleasant land, if complicated, and it is far from dull for anyone that undertakes rulership there. It should be made a province of it’s own, rather than remain an unwanted appendage of another, and I rather think that it would make a refreshing change for the Morhban family. The climate is warmer and drier than than Kusheth, and while they would still have much to do, the intrigues they face would be less taxing, less of an obligation seen in terms of two competing genealogies forever locked in this stand-off.”

Merrin half-turned to the King, with whom he had finalized his proposal the day before, in Balthazar's presence. Thierry was about to make his non-comital answer to the scheme, when Balthazar stood and simply said. “No!"  
  
“No?” Thierry asked as Balthazar helped the elderly Celestine to her feet.

“With all due respect and gratitude, no.” Celestine herself said. “Do not trouble the Morhban, _we_ want Kyrnos.”

While Merrin and Thierry were realizing that they had been lead astray, Balthazar hastened to explain. “Our family believes that they should take responsibility for what Melisandre dropped into the Kingdom’s lap so long ago, and has since failed to bloom.”

Merrin bristled, he did not appreciate being gulled like this, the King merely gave Balthazar a sardonic look and asked; “Your _family_?"

“Those here among us here today, yes. The rest can remain on their estates in Kusheth, if they like.”

“I see. Well... we shall take it under advisement.” Thierry was about to thank Merrin for his suggestion, but the Dragon was already stalking his way back across the stage to his seat. He didn’t understand it yet, but he had scored an important point with the peers of the realm. To them, and to me as well, this was just the Sharizai being Sharizai. Their counter-proposal even had greater chance of being accepted in the end. What had happened in regard to Merrin was just as important; his claim that he was not omniscient had been proven. The Dragon could be misled by a Sharizai, just as the rest of us could.

He was not nearly as frightening to the d’Angeline court from then on. Bao spoke softly to me; “As the 70 year-old man said when he buried his 30 year-old wife; ‘Well, _that_  didn’t go as planned.’”

Keen as the blade of a knife, Marc d’Uxelles had watched the exchange without saying a word. His unfriendly eyes showed that he understood what we had just gained, and he gathered himself for one more effort.

“If we are quite done with this, and if it please the court?” He stood without moving away from his table. “I have but one subject that I would like to cover, and that is the series of tragedies that overtook House Courcel in the years that followed the Time of Joy.”


	64. Chapter 64

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm a bit of an ass ... but I just have to give them one more chapter after this.  
> An epilogue, mayhap?
> 
> I need an ending that sings and they need a Ball, don't they?

65

 

 

The tone in Marc’s voice showed that this was his last gambit, and once again Barron did not look pleased. He had not been consulted and looked as if he was afraid that his fun would be cut short.

Sushulana sat in Merrin’s lap crosswise, the way Gemma had sat in Thierry’s lap but without the benefit of a specially made chair. She seemed to be doing her best to comfort him without being too obvious about it, knowing how his pride had been abused thus far. They were not showing any particular disrespect, they seemed tired, bored perhaps. Whatever the case, they were taking advantage of the marvelous acoustic qualities of this theater. Merrin’s voice reached all when he asked in a conversational tone; “Very well, was there anything specific you wished to know?”

“Even if it is a given that you are can not hear all and see all, are you going to ask us to believe that you knew nothing of the quest to find Hyacinth’s book? Surely, if you were still keeping watch over the Kingdom, you must have known something of this?”

“Yes.” Merrin said, and nothing more.

“Do you know why they attempted to find it?”

“I will save you some words, jurist. From a certain perspective, it could be called fear, fear of the two of us. However, I am not an empath, I cannot read emotions with my powers, and that is an entirely subjective thing in any case.” His voice became more resonant, Merrin was trying to reach out to us, and make sure he truly was heard by everyone. “What I do know is that there was a certain level of intimidation, and a lack of satisfaction, with the two of us. Even with all the revelations of other powers that exist in this world, they felt belittled by us, and wanted some way to assert themselves in a way that was, and is, entirely unnecessary. So…” he paused to shrug, and Marc leapt into the opening.

“You did nothing to thwart them, nothing at all? Were you even watching their progress?”

Merrin was shaking his head to all of it, and Sushulana closed her eyes and put her forehead to his shoulder.

A sudden impulse guided by my memories of Terra Nova made me ask; “Why didn’t you _help_ them?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Marc actually could smile, but my _diadh-annam_ gave me warm encouragement. “You could have disguised yourselves and aided them somehow, couldn’t you?”

The answer he gave me was immensely satisfying. “Gods no, never. Moirin, they were doing something heroic. If we did these things for you, they wouldn’t MEAN anything.”

I clapped my hands together and held them under my chin. By the Great Bear herself, I think that this may have been the best thing he said in all his testimony.

Marc was blinking, attempting to come up with a new line of questioning, and the Barron asked; “Do you know nothing of what happened to them, or where the Book actually rests?”

“No, their ships simply vanished from the face of the earth… but you are making an assumption that I dare not.”

“What would that be?”

“That the book was not found.” Merrin paused to let that idea hit home in our minds. “Have you never considered that they did indeed locate the book, and attempted to use it, or test what was in it?”

Lianne had arrived late, slipping into her seat while Merrin had been making his proposal regarding the Sharizai. And by 'slip', I mean with such stealth that I had not noticed her taking her seat a few paces from mine until she dropped her quill and gasped at what Merrin had just said. It was another revelation, and one with damning implications for those who wanted to solve the mysteries of magic. Once she recovered herself, she asked Sushulana; “Could you have helped them with that? If they had asked for your help with the book itself, I mean.”

The Elf grimaced. “Mayhap, I really have no idea. It is a kind of world-wyrding that I have never dealt with.” She raised her head and looked at the both of us with eyes heavy with misery. “I think I could have made it safer for them, but we can never know.”

There was another heavy moment of silence, this one was quickly broken by King Thierry rapping sharply on the arm of his throne. He was staring down on Merrin and Sushulana with a grim, uncompromising look on his face that brought me halfway out of my seat… and his words dropped me right back into it. “I am going to give the both of you a Royal command, and you had best heed it. I am ordering you to stop blaming yourselves for what happened! I won’t stand for it, and I know from bitter experience that it will do you no good at all, not for you or your loved ones. They were _my_  ancestors, and I am telling you that I have no ill will towards you.” His voice and his face softened. “We must understand that we are all limited, in one way or another.”

Sushulana looked to Merrin, who had ‘I told you so’ written all over his face. She sighed. “I’ll try-“

“There is no ‘try’, this is a Royal command. You must obey.”

Desiree’ added with a silky tone; “Yes, you must, or you will have to turn your Star over to me.”

A damn broke somewhere in Sushulana, and she went to Desiree’ sniffing back tears. She and the Princess hugged each other, hiding their faces from us for a long moment. I felt my duty as Desiree’s protector slip away, and it was a bittersweet moment indeed. It was not that Sushulana would, or could, take my place. The simple truth, as had been inevitable all along, was that Desiree’ no longer needed a protector.

Still, if they were going to let some tears out, then I may as well-

“What do you WANT from us?!”

This outburst had not come from Marc d’Uxelles. He had retreated to his seat, and stayed there. He knew that if he pursued this any further, his reputation could suffer. A premature retirement would be the best he could expect if he revealed that there was anything personal about his distaste for Merrin and Sushulana.

The Barron, however, wanted his hunt to end with a trophy, not a retreat. “What _is_ all this really about? Do you want adulation, a pat on the back and a hearty ‘well done’ from all and sundry? You have an exceptionally comfortable home in the far end of the world, you could have just let this all go. Do you want to become the Gray eminence behind the throne for all time? Is that why you are here?”

Merrin burst out laughing, and instead of rising to meet the challenge he crossed his legs and shook his head at the Barron. “That is what bothers you?” He looked to the audience, and saw enough of them that thought the same way to make him stop laughing. “No it is not, and ‘for all time’ implies immortality. Nothing of this earth will live for all time. Nothing can. Nothing that has lived long enough would want to. It is not simply the passing of those you knew, it is also the _world_  you knew that passes away, and the two of us can tell you a thing or two about that. What I have been trying to tell you is that even a world such as this does change, and in changing… one tends to be left behind.”

He rose and put his hand on Sushulana’s shoulder. “I want to get married,” she said, sweeping her face with her long sleeve.

Merrin nodded. “As do I,” and then he cocked his head a little to the side as something made him ask her; “and… what else?”

Her voice rose as Sushulana faced us all. “I want us to stop being strangers! I want us to know each other, and not just from stories! Acceptance is yours to give or not, and that’s a fact. But when we meet again in Terre d’Ange Beyond, I want us to know each other. Power, politics, none of that means anything there, and nobody in their right minds could want it to be that way. What we DO want is for you to _know us for one of you_ … and I know it is a lot to ask! We just want to be one of you, it is what I have wanted since before anyone on this world ever heard of me.” She sighed, hands dropping to her sides and hanging slack. “It is all anyone _should_ want… isn’t it?”

 

It is said that in the years since a mad Carthaginian warlock cast a spell upon the City of Elua, nothing had humbled the the d’Angeline people the way Sushulana’s earnest words had just done.

Mayhap it was just what they needed. _We_ , I should say, my ties to my father’s people can never be denied. People who’s lives spanned centuries being so concerned for their after-life was one thing, their concern that they not be strangers to the souls they encounter on the other side was another, and greater, thing.

Not one person in the theater knew what to say, I honestly don’t think that any words spoken would have made any difference. The d’Angeline Gods had given them their blessing, who were we to withhold our own?

A couple that I had never met or heard of before mounted the stairs that brought them up from the audience level up to our corner of the stage. “We are Cyrielle & Zacharie Bardin, , and we would like to welcome you to Terre d’Ange.” Between kisses of greeting, I saw Zacharie pass has card to Merrin. Neither I nor Bao ever saw them again, this ordinary couple who made the first move, Word spread that they were performers from Azzale, and perhaps their familiarity with life on the stage was what gave them the presence of mind to do what they did.

What they did was open a door that did not close. The Sharizai clan came next, followed by everyone else in the theater.

Mayhap not every single one of them. The Baron slipped away with his women when I was not looking. Later, I heard from one of them that he had journeyed to Jebe-Barkal to do “some hunting”. Marc d’Uxelles, on the other hand, crossed the stage to shake Merrin’s hand right after the Sharizai. I could see both their faces, regarding each other as the sort of adversaries that made life interesting.

So many followed that much of the rest of the day, and there was still plenty left of it, was spent by Merrin and Sushulana right where they were standing. They refused any refreshment but water, spending a moment thanking everyone individually and trying to give each of them some anecdote to take with them. Their stamina impressed me, I had to leave twice while it was still going on. Each time I returned the two of them were still there, still eager to meet more people, spirits so light that they could have kept going all day and all night.

King Thierry grew restless on his throne, and came down to join in. He and the Princess attracted a throng of their own, of course, and likely met more people who were new to them than they had on any other day of their lives. Bao and I experienced them same thing with we came out from behind our table, leaving us bemused but happy. I did not understand it myself, I had done next to nothing since all of this had begun…

Not _nothing_ , perhaps. When the last of the well-wishers had passed and we were left alone on the stage, Bao and I were standing between Merrin & Sushulana on one end, and the King & Princess on the other. I understood, then, that we were the bridge between them. The long estrangement was over, just as my Father had said, and I like to think that Bao and I had made it possible… somehow.

 

Ten weeks later, we had the grandest mid-winter Ball that there ever was....

(yes, one more chapter)


	65. Chapter 65

66

 

 

Ten weeks later, we had the grandest mid-winter Ball that there ever had been.

There is more to this assessment than words can tell, as there must be when one has heard legends of how fantastic the balls of Phe’dre no Delaunay’s day must have been. I shall stand by it, as this ball was the coming-together of so many things, all glorious.

The most famous of those things were brought by the ships from Nova Angelica. The little fleet was lead by Merrin and Sushulana’s son, Talyn himself. Among the exotic items brought by them were plants and seeds that had never been seen on this continent before. I was given first pick among these living treasures, and spent hours every day encouraging their growth in the many-windowed apartment that had been mine when Queen Jehanne had taken me into her protection… and so much more. Other living treasures included a pair of the gigantic walking, flightless birds from Hope Island. By gigantic, I meant that they could look a man in the eye, if that man was riding a large horse.

They also brought spices, unusual metals, and things that they had acquired in trade along the way, even from Terra Nova. The ships had taken different paths; half came to us by way of Bhodistan and Africa, the others had sailed _east_  to Tawantinsayo, and then south through stormy seas where one of their number had been lost, thence almost due north to meet up with the others before they entered the Southern Sea.

And of course, they brought themselves, hundreds of them.

The Nova Angelicans had paused at an quiet anchorage to sort out themselves and their ships before approaching us, and they did not look so bedraggled after being at sea for many months. There were those among them that looked perfectly d’Angeline in every way, and there were those who certainly looked very different; swarthy and stocky with facial tattoos that evoked memories of the Alba of yesteryear, and there were a handful others as dark as the folk of Jebe Barkal yet with more delicate features and a charming shyness about them.

The majority were a mix of two or more of the above, in such bewildering and bewitching variety that fascination overcame d’Angeline reserve the very day they arrived. This was helped by the fact that every one of then spoke their language, and spoke it well. The d’Angeline language was the common tongue in Nova Angelica, and the tie that held them together was the d’Angeline religion. They entered the City of Elua with the usual wide-eyed wonder, saving special reverence for the Temples that nearly all of them wanted to see first. They even brought offering of their own, although the birds they brought to release in Naamah’s temple caused something of a stir. Word had it that some of these birds had chased the doves round and round the dome on their way out through the top… a humorous omen that the women among them were quick to exploit.

Not the least point of interest was the fact that out of every handful of them, at least one of them was capable of some sort of minor magic, and they were not shy about demonstrating how useful it could be in their daily lives.

 

And in the meanwhile, the Maghuin Dhonn I brought to the City had disappeared.

Uncle Mabon was the last to leave, and he did his best to explain; “There is a limit to what we could withstand, and while each of us found much to interest us here… tis’ a _city_ , Moirin. Parks a’plenty, but that only made us more curious about the wilds abounding in the lands of this Kingdom.”

“I neglected you, didn’t I?”

“Nay, dear lass, you did just right. Had ye doted on us t’would have been the worst thing ye could have done. We are free, are we not? Free to wander, as I will be doing now. Fret if you must,” and he gave me a wink that dared me to ‘fret’, not that it would matter, “we all will be back among you by Spring. I dare say, you should be prepared to pay the Ferry for more than just the five you brought with you.”

I blinked. “I did not mean for you to follow my path so literally!”

“Warned ye, did I not?” He let out a fulsome laugh, which I shared. “As for myself, I shall ponder the notion that we Maghuin Dhonn are not doomed to fade and dwindle away to nothing. No easy thing, that. I am twice your age, and …” He shook his head and sighed, but he was still smiling, and there was a twinkle in his eyes. “Life finds a way, aye?”

“Aye, and loves _shows_ the way.” I breathed softly, watching him amble down the road to Siovale.

 

The Royal wedding took place three weeks before the Mid Winter Ball. There were rumors that it would be a double wedding, to include the long-overdue formal union between Merrin and Sushulana. Plans were actually speculated on along those lines, but only for a few hours. The day after the hearings in the Theater ended so conclusively, the pair of them fled to a country chapel dedicated to Naamah in the most distant corner of Camlach. Exchanging vows among kindly strangers, they transformed a neglected outpost of love in the harshest corner of the Realm into a well-endowed and famous symbol of consummation, and the timeless nature of true love.  
“There was simply no way we would steal the thunder from a Royal Wedding.” Merrin declared when he returned.

“You think I would wait any longer than I had to?” Sushulana declared, and laughed off any complaints that she had missed a chance at some political gains.

The Royal wedding was spectacular, and I had to admit that splitting it with the exotic pair would have been a needless distraction. Gemma was a wonder, so perfectly poised that people were soon speculating that she must have the blood of peers flowing in her veins, if not that of Azzale himself. Thierry was happy, truly so at long last, and he was _content_ … something I had never thought to see in him. The ceremony took place in Gemma’s old temple, showing beyond any doubt that the union had the blessing of the Gods, as well as the Clergy that had worked with Gemma when we all had known her as Sister Gemma.

When the King and Queen departed for their honeymoon, they left a city a-whirl in preparations for Mid Winter. There was an extra impetus to their labors; there were newcomers that we had to make a good impression on. In no clearer way could they have said that the newcomers had made a good impression on _them_.  
When I say newcomers to the City, it was not just the Nova Angelicans.

One morning Bao and I were summoned to the Palace by the Princess-Regent without an explanation. Fearing a prank, we left out children behind, only to find the both of them and my Father arriving a moment after we did by means of a hired carriage. Their grins told us that they were ‘in on it’, as they say, and had nothing to fear.  
Neither did we, as it turned out.

Awaiting us next to Desiree’s throne was Rilrae, returned to her more Elfin form and bedecked in white cotton held in place by embroidered buckskin straps and strings of beads that could only have come from Terra Nova. While a welcome surprise, there was something about her expression, and that of Desiree also, that told us there was more to this meeting than we could see.

“I am hoping that this game of ‘ _I know something you don’t know_ ’ will lead us to something pleasant.” Bao quipped as we came up out of our bows to the Princess.

A curtain parted behind Rilrae, and Desiree’ stood. “I do hope that you find it so. May I present the Rani Amrita?”

And so she was, in all her glory right there among us. There was no need to ask how she had come to us, only Merrin or Sushulana could have managed it in such secrecy and with such swift surety.

Radiant and outwardly little changed, Amrita’s hands came together in one of her perfect Mudras as she beamed upon us. “My son the Rana sends his apologies, and extends his invitations to all and sundry who would wish to visit-“

I ran to her, and enfolded Amrita in a hug sudden and warm enough to out-do Sushulana herself for impulsive affection.

So, Ravindra was now the ruler of Bhaktipur, Amrita graciously stepping aside when he reached his maturity and assumed the role he had spent his life preparing for. We also learned that the redoubtable Hasan Dar had passed away, leaving the former Rani in what could have become a rather tragic and lonely retirement. The promise made by Dragons saved her from that, and kept her feeling, and looking, far younger than her years.

“Oh Gods, the men will be fairly fighting over you at this Ball.” I whispered into her ear.

“Dear Moirin… so much to take in, what is this Ball you speak of?” Then she stepped back, smiling through misty eyes, and gasped at the sight of my children.

They looked up at her with goggle-eyed wonder. “ooo… are you really made of living gold?”

 

We have come to believe that miracles that lead to simple and quiet joys are the best kind. Our private meetings with Amrita and our reminisces with Rilrae and all of our other dear friends have made Bao and I certain of that. However, when we gave our testimony to Lianne Tremaine and Gwenaëlle Rochat regarding our adventures, I came to realize something. When I had returned to Alba with Bao, I had assumed that it was the end of something. The travel and trials and misery had certainly come to an end… the sort that entertain most people, one would suppose. Yet there was far more to it than that, we had enabled a beginning for so many others. I do not mean my own children, their story is yet to be imagined, and if they never do anything to earn themselves a place in the repertoire of the Bards I will die a happy woman indeed.

No, it was more in what I overheard from others at the Ball, once that long-anticipated night finally came about.

 

The custom of decorating the hall with Pine boughs that had been begun by Jehanne was enhanced by decorative plants that I had coaxed to growth, or found to my delight that they were naturally inclined to come into full bloom at this time of year. The other side of the world moves to a rhythm of it’s own, as do it’s people.

Rilrae would not be among the hundred Nova Angelican people chosen to attend the Royal ball, she had been invited to the one happening at Mont Nuit that night, a rare honor. When I hugged her, I could feel a wealth of strategically placed jewelry under her thin white cloak. I drew back, and Rilrae gently closed my mouth with the tip of her finger. “My moment of glory, so they seem to think. They want me to reprise my role, and why not? An invitation to the most exclusive ball in town should be earned, no?”

I let her go, once again wondering what role I had actually played in her transformation from self-repressed brat to bawdy and free-spirited young woman.

There were also many glass siphons, not a cask was opened that did not have some work of the glassblower’s art attached to it. To Bao’s disappointment, there was no uisghe being served, yet there was ‘Joy’ aplenty. There were also new pastries prepared aboard the Angelican ships, enlivened by exotic fruits and spices. The Sharizai celebrated their bestowal of Kyrnos by supplying Chocolatl for one and all.

We danced, cavorted, and showed our love for each other in various ways. Snatches of conversation came to me as Bao whirled me about the room.

“Where are the rest of your children?” Thierry asked Merrin at a table laden with treats.

“Someone has to keep an eye on things while we are away. Rest assured that once they hear of this night from their siblings, you will be seeing them…”

“… it was as simple as that.” Balthazar assured Sushulana as he spun her through some complicated dance steps. “The admission of mortality does wonders for removing everyone’s fears of megalomania.”

Sushulana was bemused. “But everyone dies eventually, or has to move on at some point!”

Yes, but true tyrants never admit it, even to themselves.”

Amrita requested that Bao be the first to dance with her, using steps that she had learned over the last two weeks from expert teachers… and feeling just ever so slightly shy about dancing in front of other people. I was left alone for a very short time before my father took my hand, of all people. “I have something to tell you, before any rumors start to circulate.”

He appeared to be more serious than a night such as this warranted. “What, what is wrong? Did any of my people-“

Raising a finger to me, he hushed my concerned words. “I am sure that the Maghuin Dhonn are enjoying this evening at some country manor, your Uncle Mabon is for certain. No, I am speaking of myself. When you leave for Alba this spring, I shall go with you. And from there, I will be going to Terra Nova.”

From worried to joyful to trying to swallow a shout, that is what I went through in as many heartbeats. Alba and Skaldia had both sent expeditions to Terra Nova, the northern continent, and the only difference in their results were the difference between disaster and outright fiasco. “Why?”

“Because they will try again, and they will need help.” Rilrae brought back word; the plague that the Nauhatl managed to shake off has spread north, racing ahead of those that tried to stop it. The native population had been decimated, making the establishment of any outposts in the region all the more impossible. Colonists were plunging into a dark vacuum, many never to be heard from again. While I grieved for countless lost lives in that far-off place, there was a new worry closer to home. The peaceful Skaldi might not remain so peaceful if their increasing population was not given somewhere to go. “If it is to come to pass peacefully, they will all need someone to help them understand each other.”

His natural calling, and an adventure of his own. “For how long?”

“A year or two, mayhap three. Do you think I can convince your mother to come with me?”

I blinked. “To  … _oh_ , a complete wilderness, one that they call ‘New Alba’ because it is so similar?” I thought for a moment. “Mayhap.” Who was I to say no? They were a generation older than I, and if they wanted to have adventures of their own, knowing what they did of mine, then may the Gods bless and keep them.  
And bring them back safely … please.

 

There was little time to ponder this.

I had to approach Sushulana at just the right moment, and tell her that the woman who was supposed to play the Crone had gone missing and we needed a replacement right this instant, and wouldn’t it be a splendid surprise for Merrin? At the same moment, Bao was telling Merrin a very similar story, he being just the right hight for this year’s Sun Prince outfit and wouldn’t it be such a nice surprise for his new wife?

Thus it was that we were able to bring them together to OUR satisfaction, and a fine surprise it was for them, and a great many others as well. Sushulana froze in place the moment she heard Merrin’s voice coming from the other end of the hall, from behind the golden mask of the man striding towards her. She added no magical flourish when he struck the crone’s disguise from her and revealed his new wife, standing before him in heels that added half a foot to her height. Merrin rubbed his hands together and did a credible job of leering at her as if he had never seen her before. The kiss was interrupted by the sudden appearance of half a dozen Priests, one from each sect save Naamah, who all wanted their turn to bless their union. People began cheering, so loudly that I heard little of the blessings, even though I was standing very near to them. I’d _had_  to be near, so that my Twilight to surround the clergy as they surrounded the happy couple, and somehow it all came off without a hitch.

The joy in their faces warmed me the way no drink ever has. Their story was not over, they had another new beginning ahead of them… as do so many of us.

 

I also spied Talyn, tall and dashing and ever so considerate of his dance partner, who happened to be Desiree’. She was as much the subject of gossip as ever. If, or when, Thierry and Gemma had children of their own, Desiree’ would be behind them in the line of succession. If she never ascended to the throne as a Queen, then her line would be that of a Ducal House, in the name of whatever man she took for a husband. The people of Mont Nuit would be unhappy that the bloodline of the only adept to ascend to royalty should be sidelined, and yet if there was anyone that was unconcerned about such things is was Desiree herself.

“You have been there?” She asked Talyn, following right behind him as he went to refill their champagne glasses. “Do you really think it could have been _that_  garden?” Some instinct guided me to cloak myself in Twilight again, and stay close enough to hear what they were saying.

“Oh yes, it certainly could. I myself survived rather well with just one companion, a sharp rock and nothing else for weeks.” He smiled and shrugged when Desiree glanced at him. “It was a dare, the sort my sister enjoys.”

“Yes, I rather thought Rilrae would be that way.”

“Oh, no _she_ wouldn’t, I meant my twin, Savanah. She is supposedly home right now, but I am wiling to bet that she is in search of some mystery to be solved.”

Desiree sighed. “I wish _I_ was. Out there, I mean, looking for something interesting.” My days as her protector might not be over, after all.

“Why not? Someday soon, maybe a couple of years… ah, don’t look at me _that_  way, I mean that planning ahead makes all the difference. Learning a few spells will make you a valued member of any team.”

Desiree glanced around, making me glad that I had hidden myself, although I had to be quick on my feet to avoid being bumped into.  
“Including yours?” Talyn nodded, and said no more as he filled both glasses at the same time, a feat that required no small amount of concentration. She nearly made him spill it when she asked; “You know where they hid it, don’t you?”

“What?” Now he was glancing around, and speaking more softly as he gave her a glass and lead her away. “The book, you mean? No, but I may have found a good clue when I was at the Garden.”

“You did?!”

“I believe so … a clue, nothing more. Tell me, Princess, have you ever heard of the Tomb of Yeva?”

 

Life finds a way  
Love shows the way

 

January 7th, 2018

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew!  
> Once again, I am sorry this took so long, I think it was four years ago I started on this... all love to those of you who stayed with me on this. Without the encouragement I would probably have given up long ago.
> 
> So... thoughts? 
> 
> I deliberately went with the New Beginnings rather than the Here Endeth because it never really does, not when there are new lives always coming into it, and the world J.C. created is one of the liveliest that I have come across in 40 years of reading fiction.  
> Kudos to her for all the inspiration, and a series of books that made me start reading again, as well as writing.
> 
> BTW; the Tomb of Eve was a real place, on the northwestern shore of the Red Sea. It consisted of an oddly long burial chamber and a vast carving of a reclining woman, until it was demolished by Wahabi fundamentalists in 1920. Treasures from antiquity are lost every day. Preserve what you can of the past, if you have the opportunity. Once a thing is gone, there is no getting it back. 
> 
> What to do now...  
> Oh yeah, go back and make book 2 into something worthy of attention. Maybe then... well, what to do with fanfic that took on a life of it's own, eh?
> 
> * One last thing; I had a song for the first book, a duet for Merrin & Sushulana that worked very well in the circumstances  
> I have one more for them, one that might not be in context if taken literally, but I think it is a good summation of their struggles, and what they were yearning for all along. Let me know what you think, its a real doozy;
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYf-EsadU7I
> 
> Yeah, I gotta go back and re-work Covenant.
> 
> oi.... maybe a vacation first, and a binge on Once Upon a Time. :P


End file.
